Key To The Heart
by Loeka
Summary: In a world where Sora never existed, Kairi takes his place as the Keyblade wielder. Because why not.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** For clarification sake, Kairi is called Sora in this story. Why? Because her amnesia was a little more complete here and she forgot her own name, so they named her Sora. Is this confusing? Yes. Will I change it? No. I love Sora, and while he isn't physically present in this fic, I do want to honor him in spirit. Thus, Kairi is called Sora.

* * *

I've been having these weird thoughts lately...

Like, is any of this for real...

Or not?

* * *

Sora opens her eyes to a blue sky and white clouds. For some reason that seems... wrong. Shouldn't the sky be... something else?

She closes her eyes as she tries to remember what it should be instead, her mind still fuzzy from...

(a memory)

From...

(a warning)

Sora opens her eyes again. And yelps with surprise at the unexpected sight that meets her, so startled she shoots half upright from her previously flat position on the sand.

Her reaction makes Riku chuckle. When she tilts her head back to look at him again, she sees an amused smirk aimed down at her.

"And good afternoon to you too. So this is where you've been hiding," he says. It makes her frown with confusion. Her mind is clear now and strange images are dancing through it.

"...Riku?" she wonders, confused by how he's here. The last thing she remembers – Sora sucks in a sharp breath and jumps to her feet, spinning around as she frantically searches for the... the _thing_.

"Sora, what's wr–"

"Where is it? I– Riku, we've got to run!" she exclaims while whirling around to face him because they need to leave _right now_. She grasps his hand and starts running towards the docks.

She almost falls flat on her face when Riku refuses to move with her. Sora manages to catch her balance in time and gives him a bewildered look, fear and panic clawing at her mind.

Why isn't he running?

"Did you hit your head or something?" For some utterly incomprehensible reason Riku is _amused_ , like there isn't a huge black thing that wants to...

(consume the light)

It wants...

(her)

Something.

Sora isn't staying to find out what.

"We've got to run!" she repeats and tries to pull Riku along again.

He still doesn't budge, just keeps giving her a highly amused look. Sora lets out a frustrated noise and glares.

"Riku, _move_ ," she commands her idiot best friend. He laughs in return but he also _finally_ takes a step forward.

Except it turns out he takes that step so he can knock her firmly on the head. Not hard enough to hurt but definitely hard enough to be felt.

"Earth to Sora, this is the real world. You were just dreaming."

"It wasn't a dream!" she denies because there's no way she could've ever imagined that _thing_. "There's this huge black thing and– ouch" Sora rubs her head where Riku knocked her a little harder than last time and gives him another glare, unable to understand what's wrong with him.

He needs to start running.

"You were dreaming, you crazy girl. There's nothing here," he declares so firmly it makes uncertainty start to rise. Except it couldn't have been a dream, it felt too real for that.

...Except things like that

(will come)

don't exist in real life. Of course they don't.

"Are you sure you didn't see anything?" she has to check again. The fear still clawing at her mind doesn't allow for anything else.

Riku rolls his eyes with fond exasperation, before he lays his arm across her shoulders and pulls her close.

"I'm very sure," he assures and Sora relaxes, fear gone as though it was never there in the first place. Riku wouldn't lie to her and that thing would be impossible to miss. So it follows that Riku is right and it was just

(a memory)

(a warning)

a dream. Nothing more.

No matter how real it felt.

"Besides," Riku continues with his usual confidence. "Even if the, what did you call it? The huge black thing? Even if it was real, I'd protect you."

Sora smiles and leans into his embrace.

"Thanks, Riku." Her best friend is always there for her. It's reassuring in a way nothing else is.

"You're welcome," he says with the smile he only ever makes for her, before it transforms into a playful grin. "Now let's go. That raft won't build itself," he orders. Sora laughs. Typical Riku.

"Alright. Race you?" she asks, already knowing what his answer will be.

Riku scoffs and gives her what he thinks is a cool smirk, but in reality it just makes him look smug.

"You're going down," he states like it's already a fact. Sora gives him an innocent look in return. Because Riku knows her, it immediately makes his eyes narrow with suspicion.

She spins out of his embrace and sweeps out his legs.

Riku flails his arms as he tries to catch his balance, and he almost manages to save himself by grasping her own arm, but she moves out of the way just in time. Sora watches with satisfaction as he falls down the sand.

"Looks like you're the one who went down," she kindly informs him. The dirty look she gets in return makes her grin. Riku opens his mouth to call her a cheater like usual, so Sora spins on her heel and starts running along the beach. It would be silly of her to waste her head start by listening to him talk, now wouldn't it? Especially when she already knows what he's going to say.

"Cheater!" Riku's yell makes her grin grow, and she puts in an extra burst of speed as she hears him start to chase her. He'll catch up to her before she can make it to the raft of course, he's much faster than her. It's why she has to play dirty, she wouldn't stand a chance otherwise.

Her dream is already fading away, the images becoming more blurry and indistinct with every step she takes. Sora isn't complaining, she doesn't want to

(remember)

keep thinking about that thing. Besides, it was just a dream. It isn't important.

This moment right now is.

* * *

Later that day, Sora gets comfortable on the curved base of the paopu tree. She aches all over from the physical work needed to build a raft.

The raft is more than worth it.

"Almost finished," Riku says with satisfaction from where he's leaning against the trunk. Sora looks down at him with a grin.

"Just another week or so and we'll be done," she agrees, excited just thinking about it. They've been at this since the beginning of summer vacation. Being so near to having the raft finished is thrilling.

She can't wait to set sail.

"What do you think is out there?" Riku wonders with his eyes still on the horizon. Sora shrugs and returns her gaze towards the sunset as well. It's a beautiful sight, no matter how often she sees it.

"Don't know. But that's why we're going, to find out." They only need a little more time.

Riku chuckles. "True enough," he agrees. "Do you think we'll find your world?" he continues. Sora feels a wistful smile grow.

"I don't know. But I'd like it if we did. I would really like that." To find out where she came from? To know who she was before she woke up here? To answer the questions that sometimes still haunt her?

There are few things Sora would like more.

"Then that's our first goal. We'll set out and find your world." Riku's determined statement makes warmth rise. He's the best friend ever.

"Thanks, Riku." Her words earn her his soft smile.

"No, thank you, Sora. Without you, I probably would've never thought of this plan."

Sora chuckles. She doesn't believe that, Riku wants to set sail even more than she does. He would've come up with something like this without her as well. The sentiment is nice, though.

"You're welcome," she says as she looks back towards the sunset. From the corner of her vision she sees Riku return his gaze to the horizon as well.

Sora doesn't know what they'll find once they set sail.

As long as she has Riku by her side, it can't be anything but great.

* * *

The next morning, Sora lets out a yawn as she sits down for breakfast.

"Late night?" Father asks with an absent smile as he continues gathering the last of his papers. As usual, he's already finished his own breakfast and is about to leave for work.

"Not that late, but I kept waking up throughout the night. My dreams were strange," she explains. She sometimes has nights like that. Nights where she keeps waking up with only the vaguest impressions left. Never anything concrete, nothing but a haunting feeling that whatever she dreamed of was unlike anything in this world.

Sometimes she wonders if those dreams are fragments of her forgotten past.

Father lets out a hum as he puts away the last of his papers and closes his briefcase. He understands what she means when she says her dreams were strange.

"What are your plans for today?" he asks. Sora feels like it's kind of a redundant question but she answers anyway.

"I'm going to the island with Riku."

Her reply makes Father shake his head with a rueful smile.

"Of course you are. Why do I even ask?" he teases. Sora gives an innocent look in return.

"That's not _all_ I do." A lie, it is all she does. Since summer began at least.

"Of course not," Father plays along. Sora grins. "But ever since summer started, it does seem like it's all you do," he continues with the mock innocence she learned from him.

"Better than sitting home alone," she quips back.

Father winces. That definitely wasn't the reaction she was going for.

"Sora, I'm sorry," he says. Why would he – oh.

"No, I didn't mean– you're the mayor, of course you're busy," she backtracks as she realizes what he thought she meant. He has the whole town to look after, of course he's busy.

Father still looks guilty and it makes her frown. He shouldn't be feeling guilty, he hasn't done anything wrong.

"I know I haven't been making enough time for you," he says. Sora is confused.

"But you have," she points out. "You're always home in time for dinner and you make sure to keep Sunday afternoon free so you can spend it with me. You're a good father."

He really is. Sora wouldn't ever wish for a different one. Even if she does wish she could remember who her other parents were as well.

Her answer makes Father smile. He comes over and embraces her. Sora hugs him back.

"You're a wonder, Sora." He kisses the top her head. Sora lifts her head with a smile, warmed by the sentiment. Though she's still a little confused how he can think he isn't spending enough time with her. She sees him every day.

"Unfortunately, I really do have to go now," Father continues, tightening his embrace briefly before letting go and grabbing his briefcase. "Have fun with Riku, dear."

"I will," she replies. "Have fun at work, Father."

Her words make Father let out an involuntary snort.

"I'll try, but I doubt I'll succeed. Damn committees." That last is muttered to himself instead of her. Sora grins. Poor Father. While he does love his job most of the time, there are moments where he really doesn't. Being the mayor isn't easy.

Father shakes his head to get rid of those unpleasant thoughts and gives her another smile. "See you tonight."

"I'll make macaroni and cheese," she decides in a burst of inspiration, hoping to make him feel better. It works, Father's smile turns into a grin.

"My favorite," he says like it's not the only thing she knows how to make. "I look forward to it already. But now I really do have to go."

"Then go. I'll see you tonight."

Father ruffles her hair as he passes her.

"Bye, Sora. I love you," he calls as he opens the door.

"Bye, Father. I love you too," she finishes their farewell like usual. With that, he leaves. Sora returns to eating her breakfast.

Honestly, Father can be insecure about the most ridiculous of things. He's here for her every day. How could he think he isn't spending enough time with her?

She's going to miss him while she's gone. But while Sora feels regret over the pain she knows her absence will cause, she isn't going to change her mind. Or tell him about her and Riku's plan to set sail. She'd never be allowed to leave if she did. And Sora wants to go out there and see other worlds. So she will.

When she returns, she'll have so much to tell Father. It'll be great.

She'll also be grounded for life, but that's just something she'll have to deal with. If she wants to travel, she has to accept the consequences it brings as well.

Sora finishes her breakfast and starts getting ready to leave for the island. She's sure Riku is already there and working on the raft.

* * *

She's right, Riku is already working when she gets there.

"Good morning," she calls out as she nears, making Riku look up from where he's securing the mast.

"Good morning, sleepyhead. Finally decided to grace me with your presence?" he teases with his usual smirk.

"It's not even nine o'clock, I wouldn't call that finally," she points out with a smile.

"And I've been here since six-thirty," he brags. Sora chuckles.

"Not all of us can function with a few hours of sleep," she quips.

"True," he agrees while lounging with an exaggerated arrogance that's about half faked. "It's hard being as amazing as me."

Sora laughs. Riku can be so full of himself. It's hilarious.

"Poor you," she teases.

"It's a curse. Now get over here and help me tighten this rope," he orders, getting things back on track like always.

"Sir, yes sir," she returns with a crisp salute.

"Move it, soldier."

With a chuckle, Sora moves.

* * *

They have lunch at their usual spot by the island's paopu tree. Both of them eat in silence, too hungry after all their hard work to waste time with talking.

Riku finishes first and starts explaining what he did during the hours when sane people are asleep. Mostly bringing more supplies for their journey to their storage cave.

After she finishes her own lunch, Sora installs herself a little more comfortably on the base of the paopu tree, enjoying the warmth of the sun. As she keeps listening to Riku talk, Sora sees Wakka, Tidus and Selphie appear on the diver cliff. Sora gives them a wave and gets an energetic one from Wakka in return, before he jumps off the cliff with a loud whoop, clearly heard even at this distance. His landing creates an impressive splash. That's worth eight points at least. Maybe even an eight and a half.

"–more rations, I've already put them with the rest," Riku says. Sora hums to let him know she's still listening and watches as Tidus jump off the cliff as well. His splash is a lot smaller than Wakka's. She gives it a six and a half.

"I'm pretty sure we've got enough sweeteners but I'd feel better if we had some more. Can't run out of water in the middle of the ocean, that would just be the height of irony."

Sora hums again as she watches Wakka and Tidus start an epic water battle. Their battle is interrupted by Selphie jumping off the cliff and joining them. Despite the fact that Selphie is the smallest of the three, she easily creates the largest splash. That's a solid nine, no doubt about it.

"I've joined a traveling circus as their newest acrobat."

Sora grins.

"I think you're much better suited as a clown," she quips as she turns her head to look at Riku.

"So you are paying attention," he returns with a playful smirk. "And no, I reserved the clown spot for you."

"Or course I'm paying attention." She always pays attention to him when he's near. He really should've figured that out by now. "And thank you for not forgetting about me while you run off to join the circus."

"Of course. You know how long it would take to break in a new cheerleader?"

His words make her snort. They both know she's the type that charges the field instead of cheering from the sidelines. Not that she minds cheering, but why stay behind when she can be in the thick of things instead?

"If you want a cheerleader, why not ask one of your fanclub?" she returns with an innocent expression. As expected, it makes Riku scowl. Sora grins. It's hilarious how prickly he gets at the mention of the girls that swoon over him whenever they have PE.

"Those girls are idiots. They aren't my fans, they're fans of the idea of me. They don't know me," he retorts with annoyance.

"That's because you're an antisocial ass," she kindly explains. Riku rolls his eyes.

"Excuse me for having standards."

"There's a difference between having standards and scowling at everyone that comes near you. If you don't give them a chance to know you, you're not allowed to complain about them not knowing you either," she points out with a grin. Most of the time Riku counters everything she throws at him, but there are a few topics where he doesn't. This is one of them.

Naturally, she brings it up often.

"Whatever," he attempts to say with indifference, but he only manages to hit sullen. Sora chuckles.

"Also, they're not idiots," she defends them, because they really aren't. "Vanille is always fun to be around and Penelo is one of the sweetest people there is. And while Ashe seems a little cold, she's actually very kind. If you took the time to get to know them, you'd realize that too."

"I don't _want_ to get to know them," Riku retorts with a mix of irritation and exasperation. "I've got you."

Sora feels her grin turn into a smile, warmed by the sentiment.

"True," she agrees. "But that doesn't mean you can't have other friends as well," she continues just to push his buttons some more.

"I do have other friends," Riku lies. Friendly acquaintances are different from actual friends. Sora points this out to him with an indulgent look. He rolls his eyes in return.

"You have no room to talk, you're just as bad as me." The accusation slides right off her. Unlike him, she does have other friends. None as close as him by a long shot, but friends nonetheless. As evidenced by the fact that all of them are annoyed with her for spending all her time with Riku this summer.

Her lack of reaction makes Riku give her an annoyed look. Sora gives a peaceful smile back.

"Want to spar?" he changes the subject, so done with this entire conversation. Sora chuckles and gives the proposal some thought. On one hand, she's perfectly content with lazing in the sun. On the other, sparring is always fun.

She decides why not.

"You're on," she agrees. Riku lights up in return. He loves every kind of physical competition, but sparring holds a special place in his heart. It has ever since they started following classes all those years ago. Sora likes it a lot as well, but she doesn't have his sheer passion for it.

She looks around for a suitable weapon. Spotting one, she gets off her perch and walks over, giving it a few test swings. It's a fine branch, one that won't break when struck, yet it isn't too bendy either.

When she turns around, she sees that Riku has found himself a suitable weapon as well. He's radiating eagerness and arrogance in equal measure. It makes her grin.

"Ready?" she calls out. Riku smirks.

"Prepare to lose," he brags. Given that she wins against him once every blue moon, it isn't unfounded. It's also hilarious to see him this cocky.

"Don't think I'll make it easy," she warns with a smile. While the odds of her winning have plummeted to near zero ever since he hit his last growth spurt, that doesn't mean she's won't give it her all.

"I think that's my line," he says as he saunters forward. Sora doesn't reply, just brings up her weapon in a defensive position, ready for whatever comes.

The instant he's near enough, Riku attacks. Sora blocks his branch with her own, spins out of the way of his follow up strike and uses the opening to launch an attack of her own. Riku dodges it with his usual agility and performs a counterstrike so smoothly she almost doesn't manage to block it. Fortunately, she does.

Unfortunately, it also puts her a little off balance, and Riku wastes no time in exploiting the opening.

His branch smacks against her side. Sora winces. That hurt.

The mocking chuckle Riku lets out makes her narrow her eyes. She won't let that go unanswered.

Sora lunges forward while swinging her branch. When Riku moves to parry, she drops low and kicks out a leg to sweep him off his feet.

Riku dodges by performing a back flip like the circus acrobat he claimed to be. The moment his feet hit the ground again, he's shooting back towards her with a swinging branch. She gets out of the way just in time and brings up her weapon to block his follow up strike. His follow up strike turns out to be a feint, Riku avoids her guard by spinning on his heel and smacks his branch against her back.

Sora falls forward and breaks her fall with one hand, turning it into a roll. When she flows back to her feet and spins around, she sees that Riku has casually swung his branch across his shoulder and is oozing arrogance. When their eyes meet, he opens his mouth to brag.

Sora wastes no time in taking advantage of the opening he's so kindly offering her, lunging forward and tackling him to the sand. While her move surprises him, Riku recovers quickly and uses his legs to kick her off. Both of them scramble back to their feet. She with a grin and he with a glare.

It's always fun to catch him off guard. It also isn't that difficult to accomplish. While he should really know better than to give her an opening like that, Riku has a habit of letting his ego get in the way of his common sense. Not enough to cause him to lose, but enough to have funny moments like these.

Riku starts circling her. Sora mirrors his movements as she holds her branch at the ready. Riku shoots forward while swinging his weapon

(parry and strike)

Sora gapes and Riku's own eyes are wide as they both stare with astonishment at her branch held beneath his chin, his own somehow knocked out of his hand.

She did it again! She made an awesome move without knowing how she did! How in the world does this keep happening?

...She won? She won!

Sora grins and opens her mouth to crow about her victory – the only warning she gets is the narrowing of Riku's eyes before he ducks under her branch and tackles her to the sand.

She falls down with a squeak that turns into a yelp as she hits the sand. She's managed to keep hold of her branch on instinct but quickly realizes it doesn't matter. Riku has captured her hands with his own and is using his weight to hold her captive.

Sora struggles against his hold but quickly realizes it's useless. She isn't strong enough to get him off. She's trapped.

She lost.

Sora huffs and stops struggling, accepting defeat. She opens her mouth to tell Riku that, except when she pays more attention to his expression instead of just his hold on her, she sees something that makes her gape.

Is he _blushing?_

The slight dusting of pink on his cheeks becomes a fraction darker. Riku clears his throat uncomfortably and shifts his weight a little.

He's blushing!

"I win. Again," he says as he gets off her, trying to appear cocky but only managing to hit awkward. Combined with his blush, it's kind of adorable.

"Yes you did," Sora agrees with a huge grin, savoring the sight of cool and confident Riku not only being awkward but actually _blushing_. She hasn't seen him blush in years. It compliments his icy eyes and silver hair quite nicely.

In fact...

"You're pretty!" she exclaims in startled realization, confused by how she's never noticed this before. Objectively speaking she knows Riku is beautiful of course, and she's always found him nice to look at, but she's never realized that he's _pretty_. Really pretty, in fact.

"No I'm not," he immediately denies with a fierce scowl. Sora laughs. Combined with his blush, the sight is hilarious. And pretty.

"Yes you are, you're really pretty. How in the world did I miss this?" she asks herself, confused by how she could have failed to see what is now incredibly obvious. Not just his blush, but the shape of his eyes, his lips, the way his hair falls. His bared arms and shoulders, even the way he is standing. All of it combines into an astonishingly pretty picture.

Riku's faint blush grows. His scowl also deepens.

"Girls are pretty, boys are handsome," he declares like it's a real argument. Sora laughs.

"Riku, no matter what you say, it won't change the fact that _you_ are _pretty_ ," she teases while grinning like mad. Riku lets out a frustrated sound and glares down at her. Even his glare is pretty!

"I'm _not_ pretty," he tries to deny again. Sora doesn't even try to contain her grin.

"You are. Especially when you're blushing."

"I'm not blushing!" he exclaims much too fast and in a hilariously high voice. Riku knows it too, because he crosses his arms in front of him defensively and his pretty blush grows a little darker.

"Of course you're not," she plays along.

"I'm _not_ ," he snaps. Sora manages to give an innocent look with the greatest of efforts.

"No need to be so defensive. I agreed, didn't I?"

Riku closes his eyes with a pained grimace. Sora laughs. Her laughter makes him open his eyes so he can give her another glare.

"Get up, we need to get back to work," he orders, still prickly and offended at being called pretty. Poor Riku. His ego can't handle the truth.

"I don't know. I'm kind of comfy down here," she counters with a smile. Riku rolls his eyes and nudges her with a foot. A lot harder than he usually would. He's really annoyed by this. Sora chuckles and files away 'calling Riku pretty' with the rest of her 'this will push Riku's buttons in a hilarious way' topics.

"Let's go, you lazy bum. That raft won't finish itself," he commands. Sora hums her agreement, before she gives him a look of exaggerated pleading and lifts a hand.

"Help me up?" she begs. Riku rolls his eyes again, but this time it's accompanied by the smile only she can inspire.

"Lazy bum," he accuses affectionately, before he grasps her hand and pulls her upright.

"Lucky I have you to make sure things get done," she quips. "Now lead the way, captain," she finishes. It makes Riku chuckle and regain his usual confident bearing.

It's a shame his blush is already gone. Sora wonders if she can make him blush again, just to see him look so pretty once more. Or rather, to see him look prettier than usual. Now that she's realized that he's pretty, it's impossible to not be aware of it.

How strange. In a very good way.

It's nice to have a best friend who's so easy on the eyes.

* * *

...

* * *

Riku watches the sun lower down the horizon, the ache of his muscles filling him with quiet satisfaction. Soon he won't have to wonder what's beyond the horizon anymore. Soon he'll find out.

Soon.

"What are you doing?" he asks when he sees Sora start to climb the paopu tree from the corner of his vision, turning his head to get a better look.

"Something," she answers unhelpfully as she continues to climb. She's climbing... surprisingly high, in fact.

Riku moves to stand underneath her so he can catch her if she falls. And he doesn't watch the way her shirt is riding up her stomach. Of course he doesn't.

Honestly, he doesn't understand what's wrong with him lately. This is Sora, his best friend since practically forever. He shouldn't be fascinated by the way the setting sun turns her hair an even more vivid red, or how it makes her skin seem so inviting to touch. And he definitely shouldn't be fascinated by the way her body has changed so much these past months.

Riku carefully does not think of the odd dreams he sometimes has. Dreams where Sora – he watches as she keeps climbing higher. Because he's worried she might fall. No other reason.

Why is she even doing this?

...She can't actually want a paopu fruit. Right? Right. Picking a paopu fruit just isn't done unless you're planning on sharing it with the person you love. There's an unspoken rule to only do it if you're planning to get married.

Sora reaches the top of the tree and grabs one of the star shaped fruits.

Wha– when, _who,_ how could Riku have missed something like _this?_

No, he couldn't have missed it, that's impossible. Sora is ridiculously naive when it comes to things like that, doesn't even realize half the boys in school are crushing on her. She wouldn't, would never, of course she wouldn't. Besides, she's been with him near constantly since summer began, he would've noticed if–

...She's always happy when Wakka is around. But that doesn't mean anything, Sora is happy around everyone, it doesn't–

Sora huffs with annoyance as the fruits remains attached to the tree and narrows her eyes in a way that always means trouble. Riku quickly calls out a warning.

"Sora, don–" Too late, she tightens her hold on the fruit and _yanks_. And loses her grip on the trunk, she's screaming and falling down and his heart is stuck in his throat and he rushed under her and spreads his arms to catch her, bracing himself – Sora crashes down on top of him, all the air knocked out of his lungs as they hit the sand and making him closes his eyes on instinct. That's going to bruise.

Refocusing on far more important things, Riku opens his eyes and looks Sora over as best as he can in this position. She doesn't look hurt. In fact, she's grinning widely and holding the paopu fruit up into the air triumphantly.

"Got it!" she exclaims, not showing a single sign of understanding that _she_ _could've fallen to her death!_

"You idiot!" he yells and resists the urge to literally shake some sense into her. Sora can be so damn careless! "You could've died!"

Of course his words just make the crazy, carefree, _reckless_ girl laugh.

"Don't be silly, I knew you'd catch me," she says like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Riku closes his eyes again as he lets his head drop down the sand, completely exasperated with her. And with himself.

Seriously, how is he supposed to stay mad at her when she goes and says things like that?

"It was still reckless, Sora," he says more calmly with his eyes still closed.

"No it wasn't. Like I said, I knew you'd catch me," she says in the same way she'd say the sky is blue. Riku feels an involuntary smile grow. Which will only ensure that Sora won't change her reckless behavior, yet he can't help it. She's right after all.

"I hope my bruises are worth it," he halfheartedly admonishes as he accepts the inevitable. Sora will always act recklessly and he will always protect her when she does. It's just the way the world works.

"Very worth it," she assures in a solemn voice. Riku opens his eyes and sees her own dancing with laughter as she grins down at him.

"Why do you even want a paopu fruit?" he demands as his previous suspicion returns. Along with... well, jealousy. A lot of jealousy. He knows Sora wouldn't abandon him of course, but who's trying to take her away from him?

"Well I was thinking, we're going to other worlds, right?" she asks rhetorically, but it does make him realize that he's being an idiot. They're planning to go a journey. Obviously there's no one else in her life. There's no room for anyone but them. "Who knows what we'll find. We might even get separated," she continues, making Riku startle and open his mouth to deny that ridiculous statement but Sora keeps talking before he can. "So if we share a paopu fruit, we won't have to worry about that. Because no matter what happens, we'll always find a way back to each other."

Riku stares, completely caught off guard by her words. Then he closes his eyes and laughs.

Crazy, reckless, _wonderful_ girl.

Riku should've guessed, he really should have. This is just so typical Sora.

When his laughter dies down, he opens his eyes to find Sora smiling down with amusement. She's enjoying his reaction, but she's also confused by it. Of course she is. Riku gives in to the urge to tuck a few strands of hair behind her ear.

"You do realize it's forever, right? If we do this, our destinies will entwined for the rest of our lives. No matter what." He doesn't know why he's saying this, it's just a story, just a myth. She knows that and so does he. So does everyone.

Doesn't change the fact that sharing a paopu fruit is considered the ultimate sign of commitment in a relationship. More specifically, in a romantic relationship.

"...Well yes, that's why I want to share one," Sora says in a way that tells him she doesn't understand why she has to spell this out to him. "Besides, you're my best friend. Of course I want to be with you forever," she finishes like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Riku's smile grows.

So naive. It doesn't even occur to her how that could be interpreted. To Sora, this is just the way things are and that's that. She doesn't doubt how she feels in any way. She never does. Sometimes Riku envies that.

Right now it just fills him with overwhelming affection for this crazy girl.

"All right, let's do this."

His agreement makes Sora shine brighter than the stars.

"Riku, you're the best," she tells him and he knows she truly means it. It makes warmth rise as always. When she says it, it's impossible not to believe her.

"Of course I am," he confirms. Why be humble when you can flaunt it instead?

Sora chuckles and gets off him. Riku definitely doesn't feel a sense of loss. That would just be ridiculous.

As Sora gets comfortable next to him, he pushes himself into a sitting position as well. Sora is giving the paopu fruit held in her hands an intense look.

"So we just split it into two, right? I mean, we don't have to do a ritual or something. Do we?" she asks. Riku chuckles and plucks the fruit out of her hands.

"No, we don't have to do a ritual. We just have to share it," he assures her. Well, he's pretty sure there isn't a ritual. He's never heard of one, at least.

"Great! You split it," she orders with an expectant smile.

"Why do I have to split it? You're the one who wants to share it," he teases in return.

"And you agreed. Besides, you're the one who took it from me," she counters playfully. Riku lets out a falsely resigned sigh.

"If you insist." He looks down at the star shaped fruit and takes a moment to decide how to go about doing this. He doesn't have a knife on him and he doesn't feel like going to their storage cave to get one. Hands it is.

Riku shifts his grip on the fruit and begins to gently tear it apart. He's immediately glad for his waterproof gloves when sticky juice starts dripping down.

Sora doesn't say anything, just keeps watching with anticipation as he continues to split the fruit. Riku takes his time, making sure that each half is the same size. While there isn't a ritual, it is important to ensure that the paopu fruit is split equally. According to the legends, at least.

The legends that aren't true. They're just stories.

When he finishes splitting the fruit in two, he holds out half towards Sora with a flourish.

"One split paopu fruit, as ordered," he presents. Sora gives a delighted smile, making him feel as though he's done something extraordinary instead of merely splitting a fruit in half.

"Why thank you, kind sir," she quips and takes hold of her half with such childish excitement. Honestly, it's just a story.

"Ready?" she asks as she brings up the paopu fruit. Riku mirrors her movement and ignores the way is heart is starting to race. It's just a story, a myth, a silly superstition. It doesn't mean anything.

Except Sora wants to share one with _him_.

"Ready," he confirms with a grin. Both of them take a large bite.

Riku chokes and almost doesn't manage to resist the overwhelming desire to spit the _horrifying_ thing back out. It's only a lifetime of knowing that spitting out a paopu fruit just isn't done that prevents him from doing just that.

He chews as quickly as possible, forces himself to swallow and feels himself shiver violently as the act of swallowing the revolting thing down somehow manages to make the whole ordeal even worse.

That is the most _disgusting_ thing he has ever tasted.

Riku looks at Sora just in time to see her swallow down her bite as well. She does so with an expression of utter revulsion, her skin sickly pale. She gags immediately afterwards, shivering just as violently as he did.

"That's _disgusting,_ " she swears.

"So _unbelievably_ disgusting," Riku immediately agrees. Even now that the worst has passed, his mouth still tastes like... like moldy old socks left to soak in rotten fish. Except Riku is pretty sure those socks wouldn't taste nearly as revolting as this.

Sora gags again. Riku understands completely. It's only with the greatest of effort that he doesn't do the same. He can't stop another violent shiver, though.

 _Disgusting_.

Sora gags once more, before she lifts her gaze to meet his own. The moment their eyes meet, she bursts into hysterical laughter and Riku has to join in, can't contain it because holy crap, this is unreal.

Who'd ever expect a _paopu_ fruit to taste worse than shit?

Both of them keep laughing like idiots for what feels like forever. Riku feels his ribs start to hurt from the force of it, tears rising from the sheer hilarity of this absurd situation. Every time he feels like he's starting to get his laughter back under control, he looks at Sora and both of them lose it all over again.

Eventually their laughter does die down, more from being out of breath than anything else. Riku brings up a hand to wipe away the hysterical tears he hadn't managed to prevent from falling. When he looks back at Sora, he sees that she's doing the same. The sight almost makes him burst out laughing again, still unable to believe that a _paopu_ fruit would taste so unbelievably revolting.

Sora lifts her head with a wild grin, the setting sun setting her hair ablaze and her eyes deeper than the ocean itself.

She's beautiful.

"Guess now we know why nobody ever answers the question of what they taste like," she quips and Riku can't help but laugh again. Sora joins in like she can't help herself either.

She's right, this more than explains why people who've shared a paopu fruit never say what it tastes like. And why they always smile like they have a hilarious secret when asked.

Riku laughs even harder as he recalls an important detail of the legends surrounding the paopu fruit.

"Sora, you do realize–" His laughter prevents him from continuing but with an enormous effort, he manages to dampen it enough to find his voice again. This needs to be said. "Realize that for this to work, we'll have to eat the _entire_ thing."

Sora's laughter cuts off abruptly and stares at him with pure and utter horror. It makes him cackle, makes him close his eyes as he feels tears slip free again and his ribs hurt but he doesn't care, can't stop laughing.

"...This is going to take _so long_ if we don't want to vomit it all back up." Sora's horrified statement somehow manages to make him laugh even harder. Riku hears her join in again, her laughter as helpless as his own.

This entire situation is ridiculous.

Riku is so happy that he's sharing this moment with Sora.

He wants to keep sharing these moments with her forever.


	2. Chapter 2

Sora takes a bite of macaroni and feels herself grimace. The unbelievably disgusting taste of the paopu fruit still hasn't disappeared yet. It's making it hard to enjoy her dinner.

On the other hand, the inexplicable warmth she's been feeling ever since she finished the last piece is very pleasant.

"Is something wrong with your dinner?" Father asks, amused.

"I ate something unbelievably disgusting. The taste is lingering," she explains. Father raises a curious brow.

"What exactly did you eat?"

"It's a secret," she answers with a grin. Only the people who've shared a paopu fruit knows what they taste like and Sora isn't about to break that custom. It just wouldn't be polite. Or as funny as keeping it secret is.

Her reply makes Father give her an amused look.

"I see," he says in a way that lets her know he won't pry. For now. "In that case, what did you and Riku do today?"

"Lots of things. We talked, sparred, fooled around and worked on our project," she summarizes.

"The project I'm not allowed to know about, either?" Father asks with mock innocence. Sora plays along with a serious nod.

"That's the one," she confirms. Father chuckles.

"But you'll tell me eventually, won't you, dear?" he asks. While he's alright with her keeping secrets, he does expect her to come clean eventually.

"Of course," she answers honestly. "Eventually," she adds, because she won't tell him until she and Riku have returned from their journey. She has to, Father would never let her leave if he knew what they are planning.

"In that case, I will do my best to contain my curiosity," Father quips with a smile. Sora chuckles.

She's going to miss him while she's gone.

* * *

After dinner, she and Father do the dishes together like usual. Sora is about to put the last of it away – is stumbling and clutching at her chest because

(the door has opened)

"Sora?"

it's _cold_ , colder than she can put into words, a chill so deep it claws at her very heart and she has to

(hide)

run, flee, has to get away and

(remember)

"Sora!"

it's _here_ except it can't be here but it is and she knows this feeling, somehow she knows but she doesn't understand, she can't

(remember)

doesn't want to

(remember)

has to

( _remember_ )

and she re–

"Sora!" Blessed warmth snaps her surroundings into focus. Sora blinks with confusion as she sees Father's worried face right in front of her. She realizes that the wonderful heat she's feeling are his hands, grasping her shoulders. She also realizes that he's kneeling on the floor.

...He's kneeling on the floor because she's slumped down on it. When did that happen?

"Sora, what's wrong?" Father demands. Sora opens her mouth to answer except she realizes she can't. She can't explain what's wrong, just knows that

(the darkness has come)

something is. Something is terribly wrong.

(for her)

It's so _cold_.

"I don't know," she answers, dazed and confused and so impossibly cold.

Father lifts a hand and places it on her forehead. Sora closes her eyes as she clings to that blessed heat.

"You're freezing!" he exclaims and of course she is, how can she be anything else? In fact, how is Father still this wonderfully warm?

Sora opens her eyes as wondrous heat cups her cheeks. It helps her focus a little more. She sees Father look at her with concern.

"Let's get you upstairs," he says gently. Sora tries to smile to reassure him. Judging from the way his expression grows more worried, she doesn't succeed.

"Come on, dear, up you go." Father takes hold of her hands and Sora barely remembers to grip them back. He stands up and Sora does the same.

She almost falls down again, her legs unable to support her weight. Father quickly steadies her.

"Easy, Sora, there you go. Do you think you can walk?"

"...I think so," she answers, though she's not completely sure that she'll be able to. Father grimaces as he looks her over intently.

"Maybe we should go to the hospital," he says more to himself than to her. Sora forces herself to push through the impossible cold and to think. She doesn't need to go to the hospital, she needs to

(hide)

have some time to gather herself. Needs to

(remember)

make sense of what she's feeling.

"No, I... I think I just need to lay down."

Father wavers, but after a moment, he agrees with a soft sigh.

"Alright, let's get you to bed. Slowly now, watch the pieces, dear."

The pieces?

She dropped the glasses. They shattered when they hit the floor. Right.

As she follows Father's lead, Sora is barely aware of where she's going. Father's warmth is an anchor she desperately clings to because the impossible chill is biting deeper with every step she takes. Sora shivers.

So cold.

She blinks with confusion when she realizes they've stopped moving. It makes her surroundings come back into focus.

They're standing in front of her bedroom. Father opens the door and leads her towards her bed. Sora sits down in a daze and shivers as Father lets go of her. The loss of warmth means that everything

(is dying)

feels even worse.

Father kneels and pulls off her shoes. Sora lays down and curls into a ball as Father tucks her in. The blankets fail to chase the painful chill away even a little. Sora shivers again. This time she doesn't stop.

She wishes Riku was here.

"I'll go get the thermometer," Father says. Sora watches as he leaves the room, before she closes her eyes.

Why is it so cold?

(the light is being consumed)

Sora knows she needs to figure out what she's feeling but she just doesn't have the energy to even try. She only opens her eyes when she hears some noise she can't find the will to interpret.

The noise is Father returning. He sits down the edge of her bed and takes her temperature. Sora closes her eyes and clings to the blissful warmth of his hand when he lays it on top of her head.

"You don't have a fever," he says, concerned, but Sora is more focused on the wondrous heat now stroking her hair. "Are you feeling better?"

She's feeling worse.

"Not really," she understates. She doesn't want to worry Father more. Not when he

(will die)

won't be able to help.

"Where does it hurt?" he asks, but Sora can't answer that. She doesn't feel hurt, not exactly. She just feels

(the darkness)

so cold.

"Sora?" Father prompts gently. Sora forces herself to open her eyes.

"I'm not hurt. I'm just... I'm very cold." Her answer makes Father frown, but he quickly softens his expression for her.

"Try to get some rest, dear," he says. "I'll take tomorrow morning off and we'll go see the doctor."

Sora manages a small smile for him.

"Alright, Father," she agrees to put him at ease. Father gives a smile back, though he still looks worried. He leans forward to kiss the top her head.

"Get some sleep, Sora. I'll come back after I've managed to clear my schedule."

Sora almost finds the energy to grin.

"That's going to take a while," she quips in a voice that comes out far too weak for her liking. She's still counts it as a win, seeing as it makes Father chuckle.

"Here, I brought you some water," he says and lifts a full glass. Sora looks at it with confusion. When did Father even get that?

...He must've gotten it when he went to get the thermometer. Right.

"Drink, Sora."

Father's gentle order make her grab the glass and lifts her head. She's not thirsty but she'll gladly do this if it eases Father's concern.

It works, Father looks relieved as he watches her drink. When she's finished, he takes the glass from her hand and places it down her nightstand.

"Now, I need to make some calls to clear my schedule. Will you be alright on your own?" he asks.

"Of course," she answers.

"I'll come back after I've finished," he promises. Sora knows it's more for himself than for her. "Don't worry, dear, the doctor will have answers."

If she wasn't feeling so awful, Sora would have grinned. Father can be such a worrywart.

"It's probably just a cold," she lies for his benefit. She knows it isn't. She knows

(the darkness is here)

something is terribly wrong. Knows it in the same way she knows Father won't be able to help.

"Of course, of course. It's nothing to worry about," Father agrees, trying to sound confident and failing. Sora manages to give him another small smile in the hope that it will soothe his worry.

"Go. I'll stay here and rest," she says, and she's glad to see that her words lessen Father's worry, just a bit.

"Call if you need anything," he says.

"I will," she answers. Father strokes her cheek. Sora closes her eyes as she savors that blessed warmth. She hears him let out a soft sigh.

"Get some rest, dear," he says. Sora opens her eyes as his wonderful heat disappears. She watches as he leaves her room, before she closes her eyes again. This time she forces herself to work through her feelings.

Why does it feel as though it'll never be warm again?

(it won't)

Why does it feel as though there's something out there?

(there is)

Something... something that hungers.

(for her)

Sora tries to recall where she knows this feeling from, the answer so close yet so far out of reach. It's almost impossible to think through this cold, yet she knows she has to

(remember)

knows it's the most important thing, she just has to – a deafening roar makes her shoot upright, completely disorientated. Her eyes snap towards the window as a flash of sickly purple illuminates the room and that same roaring sounds the instant after, so loud it drowns out her every thought.

Sora stares out the window, confused by what she's seeing. She's seeing...

(the world bleed)

a storm?

No, not a storm. Something worse.

(the heart of this world)

Something terrible.

(is dying)

Something _familiar_.

(remember)

Another flash of twisted lightning shows the violent clouds rapidly spreading out from above the island and Sora is overtaken by pure dread, not even the too loud thunder able to distract her from the sudden understanding of what part of her has known this entire time.

 _Riku_.

Sora shoots out the bed and yanks on her shoes, panic clawing at her mind.

Riku is on the island. Sora doesn't know how she knows that, doesn't care either, it's true and that's all that matters.

Riku is on the island. Riku is out in this storm that isn't a storm and Sora has to get to him, has to make sure he's safe.

(no one is safe)

Sora ignores the impossible cold and the shivers wracking her body, Riku the only thing on her mind. She has to get to him before it's too late.

(it's already too late)

She bolts towards the door, abruptly remembers that Father won't let her leave in her condition and spins towards the window instead. Thunder drowns out the sound of her slamming it open. Sora climbs down the drain and starts running towards the docks. She has to

(hide)

get to Riku.

Nothing matters beyond that.

* * *

Sora jumps out of her boat the moment it hits the shore and strains her eyes as she desperately searches for any sign of Riku.

"Riku!" she yells in between roars of thunder, knowing he's near and hoping he's near enough to hear her.

"Sora!"

She whirls towards his voice and another flash of sickening purple shows Riku running towards her. Sora dashes forward herself, meets him halfway and throws her arms around him, needing to touch him, feel his warmth, needs to know that he's here, that it's not too late yet.

(it is)

"Riku, we–"

He _laughs_ , picks her up by the waist and spins her around and _what is he doing?_

"The door! It's open!" he shouts with _glee_ and what's wrong with him, how can he be happy when

(the world is dying)

this shouldn't be happening but it is and they need to

(hide)

get somewhere safe, need to

(remember)

she has to

"–ora? Sora!"

Gasping for air and clinging to Riku's warmth, the only thing preventing her from freezing and _they need to run!_

"Sora, what's wr–"

"We've got to run!" she yells, not knowing why only knowing that they have to, can't stay here, have to

(hide)

run!

Twisted lightning reveals that Riku is grinning with _exhilaration_ and the image is so wrong, why isn't he afraid when

(the darkness is here)

"Yes!" Riku shouts in another voice of incomprehensible glee. "We've got to run because the door is open! Now we can go to other worlds!"

What is he saying? That's not what's happening, how can he think, can't he hear, see, feel – the earth heaves beneath their feet and sends them crashing down the sand, Riku holding her close and Sora clinging back with desperation.

And Riku _laughs_. Sora can't understand how he can do that, how he can look up at the storm that isn't a storm with a fearless grin.

"Come on! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"

Abrupt silence, all the more unnatural for how complete it is and she knows what isn't a storm heard Riku challenge it and it's _answering_ and Sora meets Riku's eyes for a moment that feels like it lasts forever before they are engulfed by _**D҉̡̕͟͡a̵͡͏r̕͘͠k̡͡͞n̵̴̕͜è̶̢̕s͠͏͘͝s̵͘҉͢**_ _g̕r̶̕e̕͜͜e̷̴d͜e̡͝n͏̴̵v̀y̕h̸u҉n̕ger_ _ **s͝͞҉̵҉o҉̢ ̀͞͏̢m̵͟͠͝u҉̢͘c͏̀h͢͡ ̧̨̀͠͠ĺ̴͞i̴͞g̷̶h̡́͟t̵̀͢**_ (can't have her) _w̸҉҉á̢͢n̨͢͠t͞͝͡i̕n̡͞g͘͜_ Riku _l̵҉ò̢ǹ͢͝g̸͠i͝ņ͠͝g͞͏_ Sora _c̸ra̴̡vi̷̢n̨g͝҉_ Riku! _ **wa̧͘͡n͘t҉̀ ͞͏thè̷ ̴̧l̕͜͠ìg̵̡͜h́t͏҉**_ (can't) _p̡u̶̴ll̸̡i̷n̸g̕͠͝t̷̀é̷̛a҉r̵͏i͞ń̀g̴_ Sora! _ **w̧҉anţ҉ ̡͝t̢h͜͡e͠͏̴ ̷̧l̴͏i͘͞g͝͡͏h͏̡t̷͡͠**_ (have her!)

Light shatters the Darkness.

Sora whimpers, dazed and hurt and so impossibly cold.

A warmth is held within her hand. When Sora looks down at that warmth, she sees that she's holding a

( _Keyblade_ )

...giant key?

No, it's so much more than a key. It's warmth and Light, shield and weapon both, holding back the Dark–

 _Riku_.

Sora jumps to her feet, the agony it causes meaningless and ignored as she frantically searches for Riku even though she knows it's useless, knows he's gone with a certainty she can't explain.

"Riku!" she still shouts, unwilling to believe he's gone because he can't be gone except he is.

Riku is gone.

(the darkness has taken him)

Sora sobs, harshly bites down her lip to prevent more from escaping and forces back her tears, can't break down, not now, she has to _think_.

Riku is gone. But he isn't dead. She knows that in the same way she knows he isn't here.

So where is he?

(lost between worlds)

The door.

Sora starts running towards their secret place and the strange door within. It has to be the one he was talking about, she just has to get there and find him – Darkness slithers across the sand, a void that shouldn't be able to exist and Sora freezes, her mind unable to comprehend what her eyes are telling her is there. She can only watch with horror as impossible things somehow _rise_.

Twisting and slithering and _absent_ , indescribable and ever shifting. Her eyes instinctively slide away from the things, except everywhere she looks more and more are rising.

She's surrounded.

No matter that they don't have eyes, Sora can _feel_ them watching her, can feel their hunger and she's frozen, can't move, hardly dares to breathe because this is impossible, can't be real and she

(knows what they are)

recognizes these things, somehow she knows – one lunges at her with impossible speed and Sora sees its form twist in mockeries of claws about to tear her flesh apart and something inside of her (reacts).

She (spins) on her heel to avoid the attack while (changing) her hold on the (Keyblade), and when the (heartless) misses, she (retaliates). As the (Keyblade) shatters it, Sora is already (ducking) out of the way of another attack, making the (heartless) overshoot and allowing her to (strike). She (kicks) another (heartless) away and (jumps) into the air to avoid two other attack, (uses) her momentum to flip upside down and (swinging) the (Keyblade), shattering three more (heartless) before she hits the ground. She (uses) the small opening she's just created to (turn) her landing into a (roll) and shatters another two (heartless) before she finishes (flowing) to her feet.

Part of Sora realizes that she's moving in ways she shouldn't be able to but she can't spare more thought on it than that. She needs to keep (moving), can't afford to stop.

She'll die if she does.

There's no end to the (heartless). No matter how many she (frees), more keep on coming.

They are so _hungry_.

Sora screams as a (heartless) claws at her back and the frozen agony almost makes her falter but she (doesn't), she (kicks) the (heartless) away instead and (ducks) beneath another attack in the same movement. She (compensates) for the loss in mobility and (ignores) both the pain and the blood dripping down. The wound (isn't fatal) and she can't afford to stop (moving).

Sora doesn't know how long she keeps (fighting). Time is meaningless, nothing but a constant struggle for (survival). Her surroundings are only (important) in how they influence the (battlefield).

It feels like an eternity has passed when without warning every (heartless) melts into the ground.

Sora almost falls down from exhaustion, only managing to stay (upright) by leaning on the (Keyblade), but she quickly (lifts) her head to search for the (heartless) because she has to remain (aware) of – the _sky._

The sky is broken, it's bleeding and dying and the ocean has vanished, nothing but that dying sky all around her, Darkness tearing apart the seams and the piece of land she's on crumbling more with every breath she takes and Sora finally understands why this is so familiar, understands where she knows this horror from because images are assaulting her mind, images of people screaming and crying and running and fighting and she _remembers_.

She watched her world be destroyed. Saw it devoured by Darkness.

 _Just like this one_.

Her eyes (snap) to the Darkness on the land as it finishes pooling together and then it _starts rising_.

Sora can only watch, every thought obliterated by terror as Darkness rises and rises and _rises_ , blocking out the broken sky and still it keeps rising.

A Void of greed and envy and _hunger_ and Sora is frozen, can't tear her eyes away no matter how much she wants to, can only look at it.

The **D҉ark̵n̨e̵s̸s̕** looks back.

Sora screams as a twisting mass of absence moves to crush her even as she (leaps) to the side to avoid it. It hits the ground where she stood not a moment before and shatters the last of the land and Sora screams again as she loses her footing and is drawn into _**D̨͘҉̨á͜͏̧ŕ͘҉̀͠k͜͞ņ̸͘ę͠͏s͏̴̷͘͟s͞͠**_ sword and shield _c̶l̶͡a͢͡w͘i̷͢ng̵̢t͞e͡a̵̡ŕ̨̕i̡ng̶_ so cold _ **w͘͡a҉n̴͘͝t҉͝ ̵t̷h̴e̷̵**_ _ **̵́**_ _ **l̕i҉̶g҉̢h̡t͏̀͝**_ (can't have her) _r̢̛a͢͢g̴e͜͟hu͝ǹ͏̀ģ̕e̶rgr̷̶͡e͢͏e҉d̶̀_ it hurts _ **ģiv̢҉e̕̕͝ ̷̵t̷h̵̡͜é̴̕ ̴̵l̵iģ̢h҉̵t̨̧͡**_ sword and shield _ **w̧a̵̶̛n͝͞҉t́ ̧t̕͢h͞͠e̸ l͘͟i̷ģ͡ḩ̸̷t**_ and she is f̴a͠ll̨i̷n̛ģ...

* * *

...

* * *

Riku gasps for breath, agony obliterating every thought.

It hurts. It hurts so much.

Riku keeps gasping for air, every breath more painful than the last. Time is meaningless, nothing matters beyond the struggle to breathe.

An eternity passes before that struggle becomes a fraction less agonizing. It takes another eternity before the pain lessens a fraction more.

Eventually, Riku becomes aware that his eyes are closed. It takes forever before he finds the willpower to open them, but he does succeed.

He sees the sky. The sky is blue.

There's something wrong with that. Shouldn't the sky be... something else?

Riku closes his eyes again as he tries to think over the pain in his chest and the roaring of his mind.

...The roaring isn't coming from his mind. It's coming from... around him?

Wanting to know what's causing the roaring, Riku opens his eyes again and lets his head lull to the side.

He sees waterfalls. That explains the roaring.

...Except there's something wrong with what he's seeing. But what?

Riku absently brings up a hand to rub at his aching chest as he keeps staring at the waterfalls, trying to figure out what's wrong with them.

The water. It's falling upwards.

That can't be right. Water is supposed to fall down, not up. How is it going up?

Riku closes his eyes again and forces himself to focus. His mind starts to clear and images appear – Sora.

Riku's eyes snap open and he jumps to his feet – he screams, falling to his knees and clutching at his chest as pure agony overwhelms all else. His heart feels like it's been turned to ice, like it's about to shatter into a thousand pieces.

It doesn't matter.

Riku clenches his teeth as he pushes through the pain and gets back to his feet.

"Sora!" he yells, spinning around as he desperately searches for her, panic growing when he fails to find her. " _Sora!_ " he repeats, the unnatural water making his voice echo in strange ways but that doesn't matter, nothing does except for Sora.

Where is she? She has to be here, both of them were swallowed by the darkness so she has to be here!

She isn't.

Riku ignores the irrational certainty because of course Sora is here. He just needs to find her.

Full of determination, he moves forward to start looking for her – he halts as he becomes more consciously aware of his surroundings. Riku sees the ground fall away in front of him and realizes that he's standing on the edge of a cliff. He turns around. And sees another edge.

Fear rises as he looks more closely at what he's standing on.

He's standing on a small platform high above the water.

He's trapped.

No, this can't be happening! He and Sora were supposed to go to another world, they weren't supposed to have been separated, he isn't supposed to be trapped and Sora is supposed to be here!

So why isn't she?

Both of them were swallowed by darkness just like he was told would happen. So why isn't Sora here?

Riku focuses on the last thing he remembers. He recalls the darkness, the impossible _cold_ and how it had clawed and pulled. Riku hadn't been afraid, though. Not when Sora was there with him, when he could feel her warmth. Not when they were finally going to another world.

Then it had all gone wrong.

One moment he was holding Sora close and the next he... wasn't.

Had... had he let go of her?

No, he wouldn't have, would _never_ have.

Did Sora abandon him?

No, of course not. Not on purpose. He knows that, doesn't understand where the thought even came from.

Riku lets out a hissed breath as he forces himself to calm down, to control his fear and panic. It doesn't matter what happened, what matters is finding Sora.

He looks around again. This time he does it more slowly, studying his surrounding in a way he hadn't before.

Those impossible waterfalls are all around him, towering high above the cliff he's on, caging him in. There are other platforms within the waterfalls as well. Platforms higher than his own.

The platforms are floating.

Riku's breath hitches as understanding dawns. He did it. He actually did it. He's one another world.

Without Sora it's meaningless.

Riku returns to looking for a way off the island. He walks along the edges and sees more of those floating platforms below him as well. He soon realizes that there's only one thing he can do to get out of here.

He has to jump.

Riku looks at the nearest island, floating a little below his own. It's... possible to make the jump. But it would be difficult.

If he doesn't manage to get far enough, if he misses... he'll fall to his death.

The knowledge makes him hesitate and look for another way out. It doesn't take long to come to the conclusion that there's no other way.

He has to jump.

Having no other choice, Riku walks towards the edge opposite of his goal. He closes his eyes.

Breathe in. Breathe out. _Focus_.

Riku opens his eyes, nothing on his mind but making the jump.

He runs, faster, faster, come on!

He jumps and the island is nearing – he misses, is falling, screaming, no!

Riku stops falling so suddenly it makes him choke. Now he's looking down at the water beneath him while somehow _floating in the air._ What–

He starts to rise. He's flying!

What's going on?

Riku tries to move but finds that he can't. He can only move his head, every other part of him refuses to obey his commands. So Riku lifts his head, craning his neck as much as his position allows, trying to see where he's going.

How the hell is he flying?

He flies higher and higher, moving towards the largest island within the cage of waterfalls. There are ruined gates standing on that island.

In front of those gates is a woman. Even at this distance, he can see that she's wearing a long black robe and some kind of headpiece in the shape of horns. She's also holding a tall staff with a glowing crystal on top.

...Is she the one controlling his flight? Is she using _magic?_

Riku almost can't believe he's even thinking that. Which is stupid, he's on another world. Why shouldn't magic be real here?

As he gets closer to the woman, Riku stares at her with astonishment.

Her skin is green.

Another world, he reminds himself.

Sora would love this.

The thought would've made him flinch if his body wasn't still frozen.

His flight halts when he reaches the island. As he hovers right above the floor, Riku can only keep staring at the woman. This close, it isn't her skin that's the most unnerving thing about her. It isn't even the headpiece he now realizes are actual horns.

It's her eyes.

Venomous yellow with slitted pupils. It's like looking at a snake, instinctively raising his hackles. As he watches, those unnerving pupils contract, the sight so disturbing yet oddly mesmerizing at the same time.

The glow of the crystal blinks out and Riku drops to the floor. While he manages to stay on his feet, he has to let out a hissed breath from the renewed flare of agony in his chest.

The woman lets out a soft chuckle. Riku lifts his head to look at her again, suspicion rising. Who is she?

"My, what have we here?" she asks in an oddly lilting voice, sounding so very amused. It raises his hackles even further and makes him shift his balance to a more defensive position.

"Who are you?" he demands in return.

The woman's purple lips curve into a secretive smile that instinctively makes him want to punch her. She gives a slight bow, every movement a little too graceful. Too fluid.

Riku's wariness rises even higher.

"I am the ruler of this world. You may call me Maleficent," she says in that strangely lilting voice, before she straightens and tilts her head to the side with what seems to be curiosity. For some reason, the sight is terrifying.

"And who might you be, my unexpected visitor?" she asks. Riku resists the irrational urge to hide. Instead, he crosses his arms instead and scowls up at her defiantly. He isn't going to let her intimidate him.

"Riku," he introduces curtly.

"Riku," the woma– Maleficent repeats slowly, seeming to taste the word. It makes a shiver of dread run down his spine. "Tell me, Riku. How did you come to be here?"

"Why do you want to know?" he counters, suspicion at an all time high. He can't help it, she's just so... unsettling. The longer he's within her presence, the more unnerving she becomes.

She's too tall and too thin, her limbs too slender and her movements too graceful. Even aside from her unnatural coloring and creepy eyes, everything about her appearance is unsettling. Off in a way he can't quite put into words.

Maleficent raises a slim brow in response. The gesture is as elegant as it is disturbing.

"This is my home. I should think that reason enough to explain my interest in your arrival," she replies like it should be obvious. Riku feels his scowl deepen. The worst part is how reasonable her words are.

"If my arrival is so unexpected, how did you even know I was here?" he bites back.

"Such hostility," Maleficent says while her pupils contract creepily. "Whatever have I done to inspire this reaction? Did I not save your life but moments before?"

Riku keeps scowling, even as he's forced to admit to himself that she's right. He's acting irrationally.

He doesn't care. He's hurt, Sora isn't here, and this woman's presence makes his every hackle rise. He's entitled to being irrational.

Riku keeps silent.

Purple lips curve into another secretive smile. Riku resists the urge to punch her in the face and run.

"To answer your question, I felt your arrival," she explains with aggravating amusement. "The disturbance was impossible to miss. Yet I know not the specifics of how you came to be here. Would care to enlighten me?"

Riku opens his mouth to say it's none of her business – realization strikes and his arms fall to the side as sudden urgency overtakes all else.

"Sora– my friend– a girl, red hair, blue eyes, did you see– feel her as well?" he rushes out and holds his breath as he waits for the answer, hope and fear entwined in equal measure. He ignores the part of him that insists Sora isn't here because of course she is.

She has to be.

Those creepy pupils contract again.

"I fear your friend is not here. None arrived on this world but you."

Riku hears a wounded sound escape him and has to close his eyes, refusing to believe it, can't believe it because if Sora isn't here than where is she?

He needs to find her.

Riku looks back towards Maleficent with determination. She can use magic. She was able to sense his arrival.

She can help him find Sora.

"My, this girl must be dear to you," Maleficent says with a curious expression that makes every hair on the back of his neck shoot up straight. Riku ignores it. If she can help him find Sora, her creepiness doesn't matter.

"Can you help me find her?" he demands. If Maleficent can't, Riku won't waste any more time with her.

Those unnerving pupils contract again as Maleficent gains a pensive expression. It causes an instinctive flash of terror that Riku ignores.

"...I might be able to offer assistance," she eventually replies. Riku feels a harsh breath escape him as relief overwhelms all else, so strong it makes him lightheaded. "But first I would ask you to indulge my curiosity. How did you come to be on this world?" she continues.

"I opened a door, darkness came through and brought me here," he summarizes, far more focused on the need to find Sora.

Venomous eyes widen slightly and those creepy pupils turn into the thinnest of slits, just for a moment. Then Maleficent gains an expression that can almost be called kind. Almost.

"Oh, you poor boy. Do not worry, I am certain your friend managed to escape as well," she says in the way of someone who's trying to be reassuring but doesn't believe what they're saying.

"Escape?" Riku repeats, previous fear returning with a vengeance. What does she mean by that?

Maleficent looks at him with an expression approaching pity.

"You do not know," she says softly. Riku has the impression that it's more to herself than to him.

"Know what?" he demands. What is she talking about, what's wrong?

What happened to Sora?

"My dear boy," Maleficent says and Riku resists the urge to snap that he's not her dear anything. "I fear your world has been destroyed by Darkness. It no longer exists. I am sorry."

Riku can only stare at her with rising horror, refusing to believe her. It can't be true, she's lying, of course she is, she has to be. His world can't be gone.

"You're lying," he whispers, the denial falling from his lips almost without him noticing. She has to be lying, it can't be true, can't be!

"I wish I was," Maleficent says with that expression of near pity. "But I am not. I would never lie about matters such as this."

"No!" he denies while shaking his head, trying to get rid of her words, her _lies_. "My world isn't– you can't know that!"

"I fear I can. It is what happened to this world as well. When this world's Door opened, Darkness came and devoured all in it's path. Only with the greatest of magics was I able to save this small fragment. I am truly sorry, my dear boy, but your world is gone."

Riku falls to his knees, unable to keep standing, desperately not wanting to believe her yet so terrified that her words are true.

He'd known as soon as he opened the door and seen the darkness come through that he'd made a mistake. He'd tried to convince himself that he hadn't, had chosen to focus on the exhilaration of going to another world instead of the disquiet, the overwhelming feeling that something was wrong.

But it can't be true, his world can't be gone, everyone he's ever known can't be gone! Mom, Wakka, Tidus, Lightning, Balthier, everyone he's ever known, they can't be gone, can't be dead, Mom can't be dead!

They can't be dead because of him.

Riku sobs, eyes closed as he feels tears fall down, doesn't care, feels like he's drowning because it can't be true, please don't let it be true, everyone can't be dead, he can't have killed them all, can't have destroyed his entire world and everyone can't be dead!

Sora is alive.

Riku desperately holds on to that certainty, clings to the way he knows it's true with every fiber of his being. He doesn't care if it's just an illusion of his mind, has to believe it no matter what.

It's the only thing still allowing him to breathe.

Sora is alive. It doesn't matter that he can't know that because he does. Sora is _alive_.

Riku has to find her.

Something cold touches his shoulder. Riku opens his eyes on instinct, nothing on his mind but the knowledge that Sora is alive, that she isn't gone, isn't dead like everyone else is.

Everyone is dead because of him.

Maleficent has bend down and a cold hand is gently grasping his shoulder. She's looking at him with an expression that can almost be called compassionate.

"Fear not, dear Riku. I will take care of you. We shall find your friend together."

Her words make him let out a wounded noise and he closes his eyes again, tears falling down, still refusing to believe that everyone is dead because of _him_.

Everyone except for Sora.

Determination rises, the only thing preventing him from shattering into a thousand pieces and falling into unending despair.

Sora is alive. Sora is alive and Riku _will_ find her.

No matter what.


	3. Chapter 3

It hurts. It hurts so much.

It's a pain she's felt only once before. Just like then she can't think beyond the agony, can only desperately gasp for air.

Part of her realizes that someone is talking but she can't understand the words. There's nothing beyond the struggle to breathe, every gasp more painful than the last. Every breath requiring more energy.

She is so _tired_.

Glorious warmth surrounds her. It's only then that Sora realizes she's frozen. She tries to get closer to that wonderful heat.

She fails. Her body is incapable of moving.

"Someone is breathing, loud and clear. She can feel it rumble all around her, a desperately needed anchor. Something to focus on beyond the pain.

Sora somehow matches her own breathing to it on instinct.

Another deep inhale. Another slow exhale.

The agony starts to lessen, just a fraction. Sora wants to weep with relief.

She can't, has no energy left to spare. She needs to rest.

So she does.

* * *

The first thing she becomes aware of is warmth, wonderful and soothing. The second thing she becomes aware of is that the warmth is soft and fluffy. It feels very nice.

That's when Sora realizes her eyes are closed. She doesn't open them, doesn't do anything but savor that delicious warmth.

The warmth is moving. It's going up and down in a steady rhythm. It's also making soft noises. Noises that are familiar.

Sora realizes that the warmth is breathing. Which means it's alive.

Wanting to know what the warmth is, Sora gathers enough energy to open her eyes.

Her vision is filled with black and white. After a moment, she understands that she's looking at white fur dotted with black spots.

The warmth is a dog. Alright then.

Sora closes her eyes and cuddles closer to the dog.

A moist nose touches her cheek. Sora feels her lip quirk in an attempt to smile at the pleasant sensation. The dog nuzzles her cheek again. Sora opens her eyes once more. When she does, she sees that the dog is now gazing at her with large and soulful eyes.

Those eyes widen when she meets it's gaze, before the dog gives a toothy grin. It nuzzles her cheek again before attempting to get up. Sora immediately tightens her embrace on it. The dog and its wonderful warmth are not allowed to leave.

The dog lets out an amused huff and stops moving. Good.

The _very_ loud bark it lets out isn't good at all. The sound doesn't just hurt her head, it rings in a way barking isn't supposed to.

Given that the dog only lets out one painful bark and then cuddles even closer to her, Sora forgives it for causing her a momentary headache.

She doesn't know how long she lays there. She doesn't care either. She's exhausted, the dog is warm, and she just wants to be.

After what could've been a second or an eternity, she hears a noise. Then she hears another noise. Like... a door opening and closing? Followed by... footsteps?

Something warm touches her head. It takes a moment to understand that it's a hand. Sora opens her eyes to see who the hand belongs to.

It belongs to a woman, standing next to the bed and looking down at her. The woman has long brown hair and bright green eyes. When Sora meets her gaze, the woman gives a gentle smile.

The sight makes her breath hitch because she knows that smile, this woman, she _remembers_.

"Aerith?" She's barely aware of the hoarse whisper that escapes her, can't believe what she's seeing because Aerith is supposed to be dead, her green eyes aren't supposed to widen and she isn't supposed to look like she's seen a ghost because she's supposed to be dead!

Just like everyone else is.

Aerith's disbelieving whisper is even softer than her own.

"Kairi?"

Kairi bursts out crying, somehow finds the energy to heave herself upright and throw her arms around Aerith because she's alive, she thought that everyone was dead but they aren't because Aerith's here and she's alive!

Sora realizes that she's buried her head on Aerith's shoulder and that she's sobbing uncontrollably and she's smelling flowers and green and something that reminds of the dawn, a mixture that's only ever belonged to Aerith and Kairi remembers playing in the gardens with her, listening to Aerith talk about different plants for hours and Aerith is _alive_.

And if Aerith is alive.

"Nana." Her voice comes out weak and scratchy, muffled in the fabric of Aerith's clothes. Kairi lifts her head to repeat herself, to make sure she's understood because she has to know the answer, has to. " _Nana_. Aerith, is my nana here?"

Her nana, her grandmother, gentle hugs and endless stories. Nana has to be alive.

Please, please, _please_ let her be alive.

Aerith's expression, joyful despite her tears, falls with sorrow.

Kairi bursts into renewed cries and buries her head on Aerith's shoulder again, clings to her with desperation because Nana is dead, she'll never hear her voice again, never again be hugged by her, never hear Nana call her little light againand Father will never again call her dear, he won't tease her anymore, she won't see him worry over the silliest of things ever again because he's dead, everyone is dead, her entire world is _gone_.

Again.

Sora doesn't know how long she cries, is barely aware that Aerith is crying as well. There's nothing beyond the crushing knowledge that everyone she's ever known gone, everyone is dead, she's lost her entire world _again_.

Kairi can do nothing but weep. Aerith's presence might keep her from shattering completely, but it isn't enough stop her from drowning. Neither is the knowledge that Riku is alive.

Her entire world is gone.

Sora doesn't notice when she falls unconscious again.

* * *

The first thing she becomes aware of is hunger. A lot of hunger. Her stomach agrees by letting out a roar.

Someone chuckles.

What?

Sora opens her eyes to see who chuckled. She sees a girl her age sprawled across a chair. The girl has short black hair and dark eyes. Those eyes widen with surprise when she looks at them, before the girl positively beams.

The sight is oddly familiar.

"Kairi!"

Kairi's own eyes widen when she realizes who she's looking at.

"Yuffie?" Her incredulous whisper ends in a squeak as Yuffie launches herself out of her chair and smothers her with a hug. Sora grips her back on instinct, dazed and confused because Yuffie is supposed to be dead.

She isn't.

The realization makes Sora tighten her embrace, pure happiness overwhelming all else because Yuffie isn't dead! The girl she had the wildest of adventures with, the girl who was always ready to play is still alive, she's here and she's hugging Sora and Yuffie isn't dead!

Sora realizes that someone is laying behind her when they tighten their arms around her and she's being hugged from all sides and it's wonderful and perfect because Yuffie is alive!

So is Aerith. Sora can smell her unique scent and realizes that Aerith is the one hugging her from behind.

Kairi can only cry, so overwhelmed by them being here, by them being alive because she thought everyone had died but they haven't, Aerith and Yuffie are here and they're _alive_.

She doesn't know how much time has passed when she realizes that she isn't the only one crying. Yuffie and Aerith are as well.

All three of them are a sobbing mess. Sora doesn't care in the slightest. She needs to cry, needs an outlet for her emotions, the overwhelming joy that she isn't alone, the crushing despair of having lost her world again, the confusion and loss and pain.

Eventually her tears do dry up, more from exhaustion than anything else. Which also makes her become aware again of the fact that she's still starving.

Her stomach agrees by letting out another roar.

Yuffie chuckles, the sound watery yet bright. Sora feels her start to pull away and immediately tightens her embrace while opening the eyes she hadn't realized she'd closed. She won't, can't let Yuffie leave. Not when she's only just found her again.

"I'm guessing you're hungry?" Yuffie asks with red eyes and a beaming smile.

It's strange how Yuffie is both familiar and not. Her voice is lower, more mature and she looks so different. Which is normal, it's been almost ten years. Even so, it's odd to see her this... grown up. She's no longer the girl Kairi used to play with.

But her smile, the sparkle of her eyes, the mischievousness of her voice...

In so many ways, Yuffie is exactly the same.

"Starving," Sora replies with a shaky smile, her own voice rough and scratchy. Which makes her realize that she's parched as well.

Right now her hunger and thirst are utterly unimportant.

"Yuffie, how are you here?" How can she be alive?

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Yuffie returns with a grin, before she smothers Sora with another hug. Sora definitely isn't complaining.

"I can't believe you're here, Kairi," Yuffie whispers, embracing her so tightly it's a little painful.

Kairi hugs her back just as hard.

When she feels Aerith pull away let go and start to sit up, Sora blindly reaches for the nearest part of her. Which turns out to be an arm.

"Don't go," she pleads as she turns to look at Aerith.

Aerith, who somehow makes the aftermath of being a sobbing mess look pretty, gives a reassuring smile and squeezes her hand.

"I'm not leaving," she promises, making Sora sag with relief. "I'm just going to grab some tissues. And maybe you'd like some water?" Aerith finishes with the gentle teasing Kairi has so many fond memories of.

"Tissues sound great," Yuffie says as she starts sitting up as well. Sora tightens the grip she still has on Yuffie on reflex to prevent her from leaving.

Yuffie chuckles and continues to shift to a more comfortable position on the bed. She doesn't let go of Sora.

As Aerith leans to the side and grabs tissues from a nightstand, Sora pushes herself upright as well. Part of her is beginning to get curious as to where she is but most of her can only keep looking at Aerith and Yuffie.

They're _alive_.

The three of them clean themselves up in a companionable silence that's a balm after the loud sobbing from before. When they're finished, Aerith grabs a glass of water, also standing on the nightstand. She hands it over with a firm warning to take small sips.

"You've been asleep for two days. If you drink too fast, you'll throw it back up."

"Two days?" Sora parrots incredulously as she takes hold of the glass.

"One day, a brief moment of consciousness, and another day and a half, to be precise," Yuffie says with a smile that's just as mischievous as Sora remembers. Normally Sora would've demanded more information, except she's just started drinking and can focus on nothing else but the glorious liquid soothing her raw throat.

"Kairi, small sips," Aerith reminds her. With great difficulty, Sora forces herself to not drain the glass in one go. Instead she sips slowly while she organizes her thoughts. Now that her mind is no longer fuzzy and she's feeling a little in control, there are things she needs to know.

The first.

"Is anyone else alive?" She knows Riku is, but did anyone else make it? Wakka, Selphie, Tidus, Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Snow, Lightning, Tifa?

Did Father survive?

"Squall and Cid are here as well," Yuffie answers.

Sora bites down a renewed sob at the confirmation that Father really is dead and forces herself to keep it together a little longer. She remembers Squall. The quiet teen Aerith and Rinoa often hang out with. Cid, however...

"Who is Cid?" The name isn't familiar.

"You don't– of course you don't," Yuffie says to herself. Not helpful.

"He was one of Ansem's researchers," Aerith actually answers. "Cid is the one who saved us when..." She falls silent, apparently unable to say the words.

She doesn't need to.

Sora takes another drink of water, using the refreshing taste to distract herself from her own grief. To keep it locked down. She can't allow herself to break down again.

Not yet.

"Did anyone else make it? From Destiny Islands?" she adds when she realizes that Aerith and Yuffie probably think she's only talking about Radiant Garden. Which also makes her realize that Father might still be alive after all!

"Destiny Islands?" Yuffie asks in a puzzled voice, but Sora is far more focused on the way Aerith's eyes widen with realization, before her expression falls with sorrow and sympathy.

It's answer enough.

Sora closes her eyes and bites down her lip as she ruthlessly resists the urge to break down. There are still things she needs to know.

Even so, when Aerith hugs her, Sora clings back. It helps her remain in control of herself.

After a few deep and shaky breaths, Sora feels ready to open her eyes again and continue her questions. She briefly debates whether to first ask where she is, or how she got here.

Before she can do either, Aerith asks a question of her own.

"Kairi, what's the last thing you remember?" she asks gently.

Kairi's breath hitches and she can't stop tears from rising once more.

"...Everything," she answers, her voice barely a whisper.

Just saying it out loud makes the memories more vivid. She remembers Nana and her stories, remembers exploring all the nooks and crannies of the library, playing with her friends in the gardens.

She remembers the Darkness.

"How did you survive?"

Yuffie's question pulls her out of her thoughts. Before Sora can finish processing that question, Aerith starts talking again.

"What she means," she says with a warning glance at Yuffie. Who for looks like she's mentally slapping herself for some reason. Then Aerith hesitates like she doesn't really want to continue. The soft sigh she lets out shows that she's forcing herself to anyway. "...Kairi, do you know what happened to your home?"

The question makes Sora's breath hitch and she can't help the renewed tears dripping down her cheeks.

"...It's gone." Her voice breaks as she says the truth out loud. This time Sora doesn't try to keep it together, lets herself break down. She has to.

Her grief will consume her if she doesn't.

Both Yuffie and Aerith embrace her as she dissolves into a sobbing mess once more. Sora clings back as she cries her heart out, crushed by the knowledge that both her homes are gone. She'll never see them again, will never be able to return.

But she isn't alone.

Sora hopes that wherever he is, Riku isn't alone either.

* * *

...

* * *

"Stop looking at me like I'm about to jump. I'm not," Riku snaps with an annoyed glare. The far too expressive raven gives him a look that clearly says, _you better not_ , before Diablo averts his gaze and starts preening his feathers. Good.

Riku returns to watching the... the Heartless.

That's what Maleficent calls them. Beings that have lost their hearts to the Darkness. Beings that destroyed – Riku clenches his fists as he keeps watching the ever shifting mass of darkness down below. It's physically painful to do so, and his eyes hurt more the longer he looks. Riku still keeps looking at the Heartless a moment longer. Looks at the things he let into – he turns around and leaves the balcony, returning to the library. Riku doesn't know why he keeps going out to look at them. Why he can't just ignore them and focus on far more important things.

Like studying.

He drops back into his chair and scowls at the pile of open books. Riku ignores the uncannily intelligent raven as Diablo returns to his previous perch at the table as well and continues his preening.

It's only the third day since Riku arrived here but already it feels so much longer. Even worse, it feels like he isn't doing anything to find Sora.

Riku knows that isn't true. For one, Maleficent said that she's working on a spell to find her. Of course, Riku still doesn't trust the woman in the slightest. He won't just take her word for it.

The problem is that he knows nothing of magic. He can't tell whether Maleficent is telling the truth or not. Oh, he's seen her work on the spell that's supposed to find Sora, has seen her draw strange symbols crackling with energy. But for all he knows Maleficent is just making some pretty lights and telling him what he wants to hear.

Which is where the studying comes in.

Riku doesn't understand how magic works. He plans to fix that.

Unfortunately, that's easier said than done. When he was shown the huge library and it's many books on magic, he thought it wouldn't be that hard to at least learn the basics of how it works.

As it turns out, it is hard to learn. Even ignoring the drawings and arcane graphs he can't make head or tails off, all the books he's skimmed so far require an underlying understanding of magic that he simply doesn't have, using terms he has no reference for.

Riku already knows he'll have to ask Maleficent for help. Which defeats the entire purpose of learning enough about magic on his own so he can tell if she' lying or not. He doesn't have a choice, though. He won't be able to learn this on his own.

Wonderful.

He's glad that Maleficent isn't here right now. It bad enough that she's ordered her pet raven to keep an eye on him. Maleficent might say that it's to ensure that he doesn't get lost or enter a place overrun by Heartless, but it feels like she's using the uncannily intelligent Diabo to spy on him. If Maleficent were actually here right now, he knows her mere presence would aggravate him even further.

Riku knows that he's acting like the antisocial ass Sora always accuses him of being, knows that his distrust and dislike of Maleficent is irrational. She's taken him into her home and provides for him without asking for anything in return. She's even, supposedly, helping him find Sora. No matter how creepy she is, no matter how much he wants to punch her whenever she calls him her dear anything, no matter how obvious it is that she doesn't really believe that Sora is still alive, Riku knows he should be grateful to her.

He isn't.

Maybe he would be if Sora was here. If his world hadn't been – Sora isn't here and this isn't his world. Riku isn't in the mood to be friendly. He also isn't in the mood to study, no matter how necessary it is. The problem is, he feels even less desire to do anything else. Like exploring the castle.

Maleficent has already given him a tour of the most important places, but this place is so huge that it'll take days to see everything. Or rather, it would take days if Riku didn't do anything else. As it stands, it'll take weeks. Probably longer.

Riku just doesn't care about exploring. Ironic, considering he wanted to see new worlds so badly just days before. Now, though, he only has one reason for exploring.

Sometimes he can't sit still. Sometimes he can't stop himself from thinking about – sometimes he has to keep moving, has to distract himself just so he won't start screaming. Or crying.

This is not one of those times.

Not yet.

Taking a calming breath, he does his best to keep himself from getting worked up about the disaster that is this entire situation. He won't be able to study if he breaks down. Again.

Determined to make some actual progress today, he returns to trying to figure out the basics of magic.

He has work to do.


	4. Chapter 4

Sora doesn't leave the room. While she's fine, physically speaking, she's also feeling pretty weak. Normal, her wounds have been completely healed. Healing magic takes as much out of the patient as it does out of the caster.

It's strange. Aside from the paopu fruits, magic doesn't exist on the Islands outside of stories. That wasn't the case on Radiant Garden. Sora remembers Aerith encouraging plants to grow at an astonishing rate, remembers breaking her arm and having it healed within a day. Remembers Nana weaving illusions as she tells her stories.

Sora supposes those hidden memories explain why she's always been convinced that magic is real. Part of her has always known it was.

Another reason for her weakness is that she hasn't eaten in days. Well no, she's been fed water and soup while she was unconscious, but it wasn't enough to truly sate her.

Thanks to her hunger, the broth Aerith brings her is the most delicious thing Sora has ever tasted.

As Sora devours every drop of it, slowly so she doesn't upset her stomach, Aerith and Yuffie explain where they are.

This world is called Traverse Town. A place where people end up when their home is destroyed by Darkness.

Most of the time they end up here, at least.

Riku didn't.

Traverse Town is a special place. Unlike other worlds, it's constantly changing to meet the needs of the inhabitants. The more people there are, the bigger Traverse Town gets.

Those inhabitants include talking animals. The dog Sora woke up to the first time? His name is Pongo, and he can speak! He just kept quiet because he didn't want to startle her.

Talking animals. It boggles the mind in the best of ways. Sora can't wait to have a conversation with one.

Then there's the sky in Traverse Town.

"What do you mean, it's always night here?" Sora asks incredulously. How that is even possible? Yes, this is another world, but she's always assumed that the sky was the same everywhere. Her newly recovered memories support this.

"I mean, there's no sun here," Yuffie returns with a mischievous smile.

"Which means it's always night," Aerith continues serenely, laughter dancing in her eyes.

"That's so weird," Sora marvels. Yes, the magically growing town and the talking animals are even stranger, but still. No sun.

Very weird.

"Want to see?" Yuffie's question captures her full attention.

"Of course I do!" she answers the obvious. Sure, it'll look like the night sky from the islands and Garden, but she still wants to see. Who wouldn't want to see an eternal night?

"That's the spirit!" Yuffie cheers, before she holds out a hand to help Sora get up. "It'll be fine," Yuffie says to Aerith. Sora doesn't really get why, but then, she also doesn't get why Aerith looks a little worried.

Right now she's a lot more focused on getting to see this eternal night.

The room she's in has one large window with closed curtains. They walk towards it.

"Ready?" Yuffie asks with an excited grin as she grabs the curtains.

"Ready," Sora confirms, full of anticipation.

"Then feast your eyes on this!" With that, Yuffie throws the curtains open and takes a step to the side, offering Sora an unobstructed view.

Sora gapes.

She was wrong. The sky is _nothing_ like on the Islands or Garden.

The stars aren't mere pinpricks, they're huge and blazing, more like miniature suns than anything else. Some are bigger than others, and all are constantly changing, a spectacle of ever shifting light. It's made even more stunning by the dancing rainbow that makes up the space between them. The space is dark like the night is supposed to be, yet at the same time, the colors are stunningly vibrant. The changing rainbow sometimes covers stars, hiding them from sight, and other times they reveal a new one. A living painting that's ever changing.

It's _beautiful_.

"Impressive, right?" Yuffie asks, sounding pleased. Sora doesn't turn to look at her, just keeps watching the wonder that is the sky.

"It's _beautiful_ ," she breathes, awed by what she's seeing.

She wishes Riku was here. He would love this.

Sora pushes the sharp flare of grief away. Riku isn't here.

Which means she has to memorize exactly what this looks like so she can tell him all about it when she finds him again.

She's glad that Yuffie and Aerith stay quiet. It lets her enjoy this wonder to the fullest.

Sora doesn't know how much time passes, but eventually she's able to tear her eyes away from the sky and look down at the town itself.

Sora's eyes widen with wonder once more.

She sees a large plaza with a great willow tree in the center. Cheerful buildings surround it, each different and unique. Some of the buildings have neon signs, making them stand out even more. The streetlights have brightly colored flags strung between them and flowers are blooming on almost every windowsill.

Compared to the Islands, and especially compared to the Garden, the amount of greenery in this place isn't much. Not that it matters. Sora has never seen a place this delightful. And while the town itself is incredibly pretty, that's not why she's so amazed.

It's because of the people.

There are as many animals as there are humans, walking around, talking to each other, going about their daily life. There are differently shaped benches with humans and animals lounging on them, bars where they're having a drink. There's even a group of kids, both human and animal, seated in front of the willow tree.

Some of the animals are wearing clothes. Even more astonishing, some are walking on two legs!

"They're wearing clothes!" she exclaims, the only thing she can think to say.

"Why wouldn't they?" Yuffie's innocently spoken question makes Sora turn her gaze towards her. As expected, Yuffie is wearing a mischievous grin. Next to her, Aerith is smiling with amusement as well, but she's also giving Sora a look like she's searching for something. What she's searching for, Sora doesn't know, and right now she's focused on far more important matters.

"So the animals wearing clothes can talk, and the ones who aren't wearing any can't?" she asks but realizes that can't be the case. Pongo wasn't wearing any clothes and he can talk.

Unless he wasn't wearing clothes so that he wouldn't startle her? Like how he didn't speak?

"No, all animals can talk," Aerith explains. "Most just don't see the need for clothes. Unlike humans, they don't need them to keep warm," she finishes with an achingly familiar smile, playful and teasing.

"See that guy with the green hat and the bow?" Yuffie asks while pointing out the window. Sora looks down to see who she's talking about. She figures it out just as Yuffie continues talking and she feels a grin grow. "His name is Robin. Great guy, loves to play pranks and he's really creative as well. He's also _amazing_ with a bow. No one's ever seen him miss."

Sora laughs. It's hilarious how Yuffie has let out the most obvious thing about Robin.

Robin is a fox. Not a normal fox though, oh no. Robin the fox is wearing clothes, and even more delightedly, he's walking on two legs!

"See the two guys with him?" Yuffie asks and continues to talk without waiting for an answer. "The one with the beard is Grumpy, the name fits perfectly, trust me. And that's Dopey, Grumpy's exact opposite," she says, once again leaving out the most obvious thing about them. Namely that they're both too short and too wide to be human. Yuffie is having so much fun with this. "Oh, there's Simba! He's the one who found you. The one with the crazy hair."

Yuffie is pointing at a group of four who just entered the plaza. Three of them are animals, two of which are wearing clothes. Of the four, two fit the description of having crazy hair, one human and one animal.

Sora takes a guess.

"Simba is the guy with the sword?"

To her surprise, both Yuffie and Aerith laugh with far more amusement than getting it wrong should have.

"That's Leon," Aerith says like Sora is supposed to know who that is. "Leon is Squall's new name," Aerith clarifies before she needs to ask for an explanation.

Wait, that's Squall?

Sora strains her eyes as much she can, trying to recognize the teen she knew in the man now walking the streets.

She fails. He's too far away to make out true details. Aside from his hair, that's still the same. True, it's longer than she remembers, but it's still a familiar wild mess. Even if it's darker than before. Or maybe that's because of the light?

"Simba is the lion." Aerith's words make her turn her attention to the large lion walking next to Squall. He also has crazy hair, though in his case it's a wild mane of red. Simba the lion also isn't wearing any clothes. He's the one who found her?

Cool.

"I'm going to tell Squall you're awake. Be right back!" Yuffie pulls her in a tight hug before she can even think of a reply, and Sora doesn't even have time to hug her back before Yuffie lets go and darts out of the room.

Sora grins. Yuffie hasn't changed a bit.

"Who are the other two?" she asks Aerith while turning her attention back out the window.

"The duck is called Donald and the dog is called Goofy."

Wait, that's a dog? He... doesn't really look like a dog. She? Goofy isn't exactly a name Sora is familiar with.

"Are they both guys?" she asks to make sure.

"They are," Aerith confirms with an audible smile.

"What about that white cat?" she asks while pointing out who she means.

"Her name is Duchess and she is very much a lady."

As Sora continues asking questions about the people below, she sees Yuffie appear and race towards Squall. They talk, before Squall splits off from the group. Or rather, he's dragged along by Yuffie.

Aerith continues to answer her questions as they wait for Yuffie and Squall to arrive. Sora discovers that there aren't just animals here, there are also talking plants! Well, one plant, namely the willow in the center of the plaza. Her name is Grandmother Willow and she's apparently a teacher. The kids seated in front of her are her students.

When she hears the door open, Sora wastes no time in spinning around and running to Squall, colliding with him in a hug.

"Squall," she says in a suddenly choked up voice, breathing in the leather and metal scent of him. While she wasn't close with him like she was with Yuffie and Aerith, she's still so happy to see him.

She's so happy he's alive.

"Kairi," Squall says in a much deeper voice than she remembers. The awkward note in it is wonderfully familiar, though.

Sora lifts her head so she can beam up at him. Squall gives a faint smile in return and gently pats her back. Up close, he's a lot taller than he'd seemed to be outside.

"You're taller than I remember," she tells him. Yuffie lets out an amused snort while Squall's smile grows a fraction deeper.

"So are you," he says, making her laugh. It's true, she has gotten taller. Still tiny compared to him, though.

Yuffie bounces over and hugs them both.

"Hooray for no longer being midgets!" she cheers.

"Depends on your definition of midget," Aerith quips, though Sora can't tell who her teasing is aimed at.

Yuffie reveals that the teasing was aimed at her by letting out a betrayed gasp and looking at Aerith with a falsely wounded expression.

"Are you calling me short?"

"Did I say that?" Aerith returns with an innocence Sora knows is fake only because of her memories.

"You implied it," Yuffie accuses. While the topic isn't familiar, Yuffie didn't used to care about her height, the banter still soothes the gaping hole the loss of her world caused. Not much, but every little bit helps.

Sora is more than content to just listen to Aerith and Yuffie as they tease each other. Squall seems to feel the same way, not adding to the conversation but watching with the same faint smile he showed her.

Unfortunately, Sora soon starts feeling woozy. The healing took more out of her than she thought it had.

Aerith immediately notices and orders her back to bed. Sora fears that they're going to leave her again, but they don't. Instead Squall, standing at the foot of her bed, asks her what she can remember from the destruction of her home.

"Leon," Aerith warns from where she's standing next to him, stern in a way that always made Sora confess every little thing she'd done wrong.

"We need to know," Squall returns without taking his eyes off her. Sora bites down her lip, tears filling her eyes again as the horror of losing her home again returns with a vengeance.

"Chill out, Squall," Yuffie says with a glare while rubbing soothing circles on Sora's back. She's glad Yuffie decided to get onto the bed with her. "She only just got here."

"Which means her memories are fresh," Squall counters, his own expression hard as he looks at Yuffie. "She might forget something important later on."

"It's fine," Sora says when she sees Yuffie open her mouth to argue. It makes Squall's gaze return to her and his expression softens slightly. Sora swallows and takes a deep breath, forcing herself to remain in control. For now. She can break down again later. "What do you want to know?"

"Did you see a woman with horns?" Squall asks without hesitation. The question throws her completely off guard. Whatever she was expecting him to ask, it wasn't that.

"No?" she returns, uncertain, before she shakes her head in an effort to get her thoughts back in order. "No, I didn't see anyone like that. I just saw..."

She falls silent, unable to come up with a decent way to describe those...

(heartless)

those things.

"Heartless," Yuffie says, drawing Sora's full attention. "They're called Heartless."

The name resonates with something deep inside of her, a chill running down her spine. She

(knows)

recognizes that word, despite having never heard it before. She knows what it refers to.

"You don't know–" Squall begins before being interrupted by Yuffie.

"Absent things that hurt to look at and move in ways nothing should?" Yuffie asks while holding her gaze, her expression hard in a way Sora can't remember it ever being. She gives a jerky nod, confirming that's what she was talking about.

Yuffie's lips curl into an actual snarl.

What happened to her?

"Heartless," she repeats, her voice harsh and full of underlying anger.

Squall lets out a slow breath. Sora has the impression that he's struggling with something, but her memories offer no answer. She hadn't known Squall that well.

She had known Aerith, and she can't remember ever seeing an expression like the one she's wearing now. Her emotions are carefully hidden. Aerith never used to hide her emotions.

Something is very wrong.

"Let's start at the beginning," Squall says, drawing her attention. "When did you realize something was wrong?"

Sora puts her own worries out of her mind for now. She can ask later.

"I felt the Darkness arrive," she says. She hadn't recognized it at the time, but looking back, that's what caused her to almost faint.

The same thing had happened to her when the Darkness arrived on Radiant Garden.

"I was so cold," she whispers without making the decision to do so. Talking about this is so painful, her throat tightening up and tears threatening to fall again.

If it helps Yuffie, Aerith and Squall, Sora will talk about every single detail.

Yuffie, Aerith and Squall all look at her with an understanding that makes living this horror a fraction more bearable. They all know what she means by that. While Sora wishes they didn't, she does take comfort in their silent understanding.

"What happened next?" Squall asks, his voice gentle. Aerith's lips tighten with disapproval. She still doesn't want him to keep asking about this. Judging from Yuffie's annoyed glance at Squall and the protective way she tightens her hold on Sora, she doesn't want him to either.

Sora takes a deep breath and forces her tears down.

"Father– Father put me to bed," Sora continues with only a slight hitch, fighting the grief threatening to pull her under. Yuffie starts rubbing her back again, looking at her with a worry Sora does her best to ignore. She has to keep it together. "He left me alone so he could clear his schedule. I was so cold. Then the storm started."

Squall's brow furrows with what she's pretty sure is confusion and he opens his mouth to say something, but Aerith lays a hand on his arm and gives him a warning look. Squall closes his mouth without saying anything. Sora is grateful. While she'll tell them everything they want to know, she also wants to get it all out without interruptions. It's difficult enough already to force herself to keep going.

"Except it wasn't a storm. It was..."

(the heart of the world)

She doesn't know what it was.

She doesn't need to explain. All of them are looking at her with understanding again.

All of them saw the same thing on Radiant Garden.

"I knew Riku was on the island, another one than the one I was on," she adds when she realizes they don't know what the Islands look like. "It was in the center of the storm, so I took my boat and went there."

This time Yuffie is on the receiving end of Aerith's warning look.

"When I got there, I found Riku. Then..."

How to explain what happened next?

"We were swallowed by Darkness," she settles on, the best way she can think to describe that... that hunger and envy, the way it consumed every part of them, the impossible cold clawing at them from every side.

"We got separated," she hears herself say, her breath hitching because Riku isn't here. He was taken by the Darkness.

She's going to get him back.

Sora lifts her chin and determinedly refocuses on her story.

"The Darkness was broken by–"

She falls silent as she suddenly realizes that she still has that

(Keyblade)

weapon with her. Shield? Giant Key?

She doesn't know what to call it. She also doesn't know how it's still with her. Inside of her?

(part of her)

Can she make it physical again?

(she can)

Yes, she can. She just needs to...

(pull)

Sora realizes that she's closed her eyes and is holding out a hand when a warm weight fills her palm, her fingers closing around the handle like it had never left. She hears Yuffie suck in a sharp breath and Aerith let out a soft gasp. When she opens her eyes, she sees that both they and Squall are staring at the key in her hand with utter shock.

"It was broken by this," she resumes her story, but before she can say anything more, Squall speaks.

"That's a Keyblade." His voice is hushed and disbelieving, but Sora is more focused on how that word resonates with her in the same way the word Heartless did. Unlike that word, this one doesn't fill her with dread.

It fills her with comfort.

Squall lifts his eyes from the Keyblade– her Keyblade. It's hers.

It always has been.

"Kairi," he says, making her refocus on him. He's looking at her with an intensity that makes the one she knows from her memories seem like a pale imitation, and the Squall from her memories could give some very intense looks indeed. "How did you get a Keyblade?"

"I don't know," she answers truthfully. "It just showed up. It saved me from the Darkness."

"You're all seeing a Keyblade too, right?" Yuffie interrupts in a dazed yet urgent voice, eyes locked onto her Keyblade. "I'm not imagining it?"

"You're not imagining it," Aerith says in an equally dazed voice, though it isn't urgent like Yuffie's was. Sora is getting the feeling that she's missing something big.

"What's a Keyblade?" she asks, figuring it's best to start with the basics.

Yuffie lets out a too loud laugh, startling Sora and making worry rise. Yuffie sounded almost hysterical.

"You don't know what a Keyblade is," Squall says like he can't believe what he just heard.

"No," Sora says to him without looking away from Yuffie, but before she can ask what's wrong with her, Yuffie jumps off the bed and starts moving around the room with a nervous energy Sora remembers well. When Yuffie gets like this, it's impossible for her to remain still. Sora has never seen it reach a level as extreme as this, though.

"That's a Keyblade. Squall, _that's a Keyblade_ ," Yuffie says like she needs to repeat it a thousand times more. Her hand are flying through the air and she's moving around so fast that it's a little disorientating to see. "It's a Keyblade! We can finally destroy them!"

Destroy who?

"Yuffie," Aerith begins, no longer looking dazed but watching Yuffie pace around with worry, making Sora's own grow even higher.

Yuffie cuts her off with a sharp gesture.

"Don't tell me I'm getting ahead of myself, I'm not and you know it. We have a Keyblade. We can get rid of them for good."

The statement is almost vicious, something Sora has never seen from Yuffie before.

Why is she acting like this?

"She's right," Squall says before Sora can ask, turning his eyes away from where they'd been drawn back to her Keyblade. He looks at Aerith with the same intensity he showed Sora. "With a Keyblade, we can beat them. We can win."

"What are you talking about?" Sora bursts out, unable to keep quiet any longer. "Beat who?"

"Heartless," Yuffie answers with another sharp gesture, still pacing around too quickly. She reminds Sora of an aggravated cat, stalking the room with her fur on end and her tail swishing wildly. In Yuffie's case, her hands have taken on the role of the tail. "They don't die. You can destroy them for a short while, but they always reform, always come back. Except when they're destroyed by a Keyblade. It's the only thing that can kill them."

A Keyblade doesn't kill them. A Keyblade

(frees them)

does something, but it doesn't kill them.

Sora has no idea where that thought came from and she doesn't care either. She's focused on something far more important.

"There are Heartless here?" How? She thought this place was safe!

Before anyone can answer her, a church bell sounds from outside. The effect is immediate. Yuffie halts her pacing so abruptly it almost gives Sora whiplash just from watching, while Squall grabs the sword off his back without hesitation. Even Aerith has become infused with a tension and alertness Sora has never seen from her before.

"What's going on?" she demands, panic starting to claw at her mind.

"The Heartless are attacking," Squall says, not looking at her but checking over his sword with practiced ease. Yuffie is patting down her pockets, muttering what sounds like a checklist to herself. One that includes a ridiculous amount of throwing weapons, far more than should be able to fit into her pockets.

Sora absently processes all of this.

Most of her is panicking.

The Heartless are here and they're attacking.

They need to leave.

"We need to leave."

She only realizes that she's spoken after the word have already left her mouth, and then she's trying to get out of the bed except Aerith is suddenly there and putting her hands down Sora's shoulders, preventing her from getting to her feet.

"Kairi, calm down. This isn't the first time they've attacked. We know how to handle this."

The words are soothing in a way only Aerith can be. While Sora is still worried, she's no longer panicking.

Which means she can think clearly again. The Heartless are attacking, and Sora is pretty sure they can't leave. Which means they have to fight.

"Yuffie, let's go," Squall says as he finishes inspecting his sword, before glancing at her. "Kairi, stay here."

Before Sora can tell him exactly how much that isn't going to happen, Yuffie speaks.

"Take the Keyblade, Squall."

What? No!

"I'm not staying behind! I'll fight with you." She's beaten Heartless before, she can do it again, and she _definitely_ isn't going to let her friends face them alone.

"You haven't recovered yet," Yuffie returns like it's an actual argument. She's fine. A little weak, but fine. She can fight.

"Kairi, stay," Aerith pleads, tightening her hold on her shoulders. She doesn't give Sora a chance to argue. "Leon and Yuffie have done this many times before. If you want to help them, stay here. They'll worry about you otherwise, and that might distract them enough to get hurt."

Oh, that's a low blow.

Sora wavers. She doesn't want to stay behind, she wants to help them.

She doesn't want to put them in even more danger.

"You'll fight with us after you've had training," Squall says, making Sora let out a harsh breath. It's good to know they don't expect her to stay behind forever, but they do expect her to stay behind this time.

She doesn't want to.

"Please, Kairi. We need to know you're safe," Yuffie says softly. Sora lets out another harsh breath as she comes to a decision she really doesn't want to make.

"Okay. I'll stay."

Aerith lets out a sigh that's as relieved as Yuffie's smile. Squall seems just a little less tense as well.

"Squall, Keyblade," Yuffie reminds him, getting things back on track in a way Sora isn't used to from her. Normally Yuffie is the one who needs to be told to focus.

She really has changed from the girl Sora used to know.

Squall marches over and Sora hands over her Keyblade. Even if she can't fight with them, she can still help them by doing this.

Except the moment Squall opens the door, her Keyblade disappears from his hand and reappears in hers. Sora feels

(confused)

her worry spike with a vengeance. This isn't good.

"You've got to be kidding," Yuffie says. Sora agrees completely.

"Stay with Squall," she orders her Keyblade, before handing it over once more.

Once more, it teleports back to her hand the instant Squall tries to leave the room. Sora glares at her Keyblade. It's bad enough that she has to stay behind, but now she can't even help by lending her friends the only thing capable of – of permanently getting rid of the Heartless? This

(shouldn't happen)

isn't fair.

"Let me try," Yuffie demands. This time Sora doesn't just verbally order her Keyblade to remain with Yuffie, she keeps thinking it as hard as she can while Yuffie darts to the exit.

Her Keyblade teleports back to her hand. Her Keyblade

(is weird)

apparently has a will of its own and it refuses to leave her side. Great.

"Alright, no Keyblade," Yuffie says with an audible scowl, as aggravated as Sora is. Sora keeps glaring at the stupid thing that refuses to help her friends.

"We'll try again later," Squall says in a brisk voice, making Sora lift her eyes. He marches to the exit. "Yuffie," he commands as he passes by her, ordering her to follow just by saying her name.

"Be careful," Aerith calls out softly. Squallll doesn't stop, but his answer feels like it's something he says to Aerith often.

"Always."

With that, Squall is gone, so quickly that Sora doesn't even get a chance to say goodbye herself.

"You too, Yuffie. Don't do anything crazy," Aerith says, and while her smile is meant to be teasing, it looks a little too brittle to succeed.

Sora has never seen Aerith's smile be anything but bright.

"Me, do something crazy? Never," Yuffie returns with a grin full of bravado, meant to be reassuring. Just like with Squall, it feels like she and Aerith exchange these exact words often.

Just how often do the Heartless attack?

"Be careful, Yuffie," Sora says quickly, not wanting to risk her just leaving like Squall did.

Yuffie hesitates, before she darts over and pulls her into a tight hug. Sora hugs her back just as hard.

"Stay safe, Kairi. I don't want to lose you again."

Sora tightens her embrace even more. She doesn't want to lose Yuffie again either.

"You too," she says. "Stay safe."

Yuffie lets out a playful scoff and lets go of her. Sora forces herself to do the same.

"No worries, I've got kicking Heartless ass down to an artform," Yuffie says with a familiar cocky grin. While the cockyness seems real, Sora knows that Yuffie is just trying to reassure her right now.

It doesn't work.

"I'll be back before you know it."

With that, Yuffie runs out of the room.

Aerith doesn't.

"Aren't you going with them?" Sora asks, confused. She thought they were all going to fight.

"I'm a healer," Aerith says like she can't decide whether that's a blessing or a curse. "I stay behind to care for the wounded."

No matter how much she wishes she could fight with her friends instead.

Sora isn't the only one who doesn't want to stay behind.

Tightening her grip on her Keyblade, Sora swear she won't be left behind again. Next time, she's going be right there with them and protect her friends.

The part of her not worrying about Yuffie and Squall desperately hopes that Riku is somewhere safe.

* * *

...

* * *

Riku continues punching the dead tree. His hands are on fire, hurting in a way that means he should really stop and get someone to look them over.

He can't get someone to look them over because he's alone, alone, alone, _alone!_

Riku yells as agony stabs through his hands. He fractured something, maybe even broke it. Damn it!

He punches the dead wood with his other hand, before kicking it as hard as he can. He's being stupid, he knows that but he just can't stop. Everything is too much and he needs a distraction, needs an outlet, anything to keep himself from drowning.

He spins into a roundhouse kick and hits the tree as hard as he can – his body freezes right before his leg hits the wood.

Riku turns his head, the only part he still has control over, and looks around for Maleficent. When he finds her, he gives her his fiercest glare. He hates it when she does this. She's only done it twice before, but that's more than enough for him to absolutely despise her trapping him like this.

"Let go," he orders. When Maleficent doesn't release him, he almost chokes on pure fury.

"You will hurt yourself if you continue down this path," Maleficent says in that too lilting voice.

"Do I look like I care?" Riku snaps, unable to believe the nerve of this witch. Who does she think she is, his mother?

His mom is dead – don't think about that.

Maleficent creepy eyes remain locked onto his and she looks at him with pensiveness that sends chills down his spine.

"No, you do not."

Before he can repeat his order for her to release him, she lifts her staff in front of her and the crystal starts glowing even brighter, making wariness replace most of his anger. Shadows slither over the floor out of nowhere, not quite moving like Heartless do but uncomfortably close to it.

One of the many reasons Riku doesn't trust her is because of the way her magic reminds him of the Heartless.

The shadows rise from the floor, solid in a way that should be impossible. They twine together, forming a single whole and taking on the shape of... a sword?

Without warning, the shadows turn into matter. The result is a wicked looking sword, the blade curved and the metal dark in a way that makes him irrationally uncomfortable. It almost seems to be absorbing the light.

Maleficent releases him. Riku puts down his leg, momentum gone. So is some of his rage, replaced by wariness and suspicion. And, as much as he hates to admit it, with fear.

What is she planning to do with that?

"If you are that desperate to fight, this might offer a more suitable alternative than what you are currently doing," she says, the blade still hovering in front of her. Riku forces himself not to cross his arms or to take on a defensive posture. He won't show weakness to her like that.

"I can't punch things, but hacking things up with a sword is fine?" he counters sarcastically, wondering what her goal is.

Maleficent's unnerving pupils contract in that creepy way they have and her lips quirk into the faintest of smiles. Riku does his best to ignore the irrational terror that sight inspires.

"The weak do not survive," she says like it's an actual answer to his question. "Only the strong do. This I learned when my world was destroyed."

She waves a hand at the sword in a too graceful movement. The sword slowly flies towards him. Riku resists the urge to take a step back. He shifts his balance instead, ready to deal with an attack.

It doesn't come. The sword halts in front of him, close enough that he only needs to reach out a hand to grab it.

"Do not let your rage overcome you, Riku. Harness it, hone it, turn it into the deadliest of weapons. Use it to accomplish your goals. Use it to become strong."

Part of him rejects the words just because she's the one saying them. Most of him wants nothing more than to take the sword and destroy everything within sight.

He's scared of how angry he is. How angry he's been ever since – ever since he got here. He doesn't want to feel like this.

He doesn't know how to stop.

Sora would be able to make him feel better.

Riku forces those thoughts away and distracts himself by grabbing the blade with his least injured hand. The metal is cold, the chill biting into his palm even with his gloves. It's heavier than the wooden swords he's used to, but he can still tell that the balance is good. More than good, in fact.

Carefully running his thumb along the edge of the curved blade, he immediately snatches it back when the blade cuts through glove and skin like they aren't even there.

This is dangerous. If he isn't careful, he could easily lose a limb. He'll need to constantly focus on how he's moving both the blade and his own body to make sure that doesn't happen.

Good.

Riku doesn't want to get lost in mindless rage again, doesn't want to keep thinking of – he starts going through a routine, getting a feel for this new weapon.

He does his best to ignore the way Maleficent watches him like a snake would watch a mouse.

When he starts feeling more confident, he enters a more complex routine.

It isn't enough. He can already feel his heart speeding up again, blood rushing in his ears, the chaos of emotions threatening to pull him under.

He stops moving when Maleficent lifts her staff, the crystal starting to glow. What is she doing now?

Too solid shadows gather again, far more than when she made the sword. This time they turn into... a person?

No, not a person. A faceless dummy. Something he can vent his turmoil on by destroying it.

The dummy steps forward and oh, this is so much better.

This is something he can fight against.

Riku lunges forward, nothing on his mind but the need to destroy, to get rid of the abyss clawing at his mind by utterly obliterating this thing.

The glimpses he catches of Maleficent during his fight show her watching him with a satisfaction that sends chills down his spine.

* * *

 **AN:** Look whose muse decided to return, at least for one chapter. Don't know how long my muse will stick around this time, but here's to hoping. And if you want to greatly increase the odds of my muse hanging around, reviews are my muse's choice of drug.


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